Axel Borsdorf

Born in East Westphalia in 1948, Axel Borsdorf studied geography, geology, German studies and prehistory and early history in Göttingen, Valdivia/Chile and Tübingen. He received his doctorate in 1976 with a thesis on Chilean medium-sized towns and habilitated in 1985 with a thesis on western Patagonia. In 1991, he took up a professorship in geography at the University of Innsbruck, was appointed a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1995, for which he headed two institutes. He was invited to hold visiting professorships in the USA, Mexico, Chile, Thailand and Switzerland. He was awarded emeritus status in 2014 and has since written fiction in addition to his numerous academic publications (including >90 books). Two of his books have been published on Amazon: “I slept in 1000 beds” and “Oscar's wives. A Chile Novel”. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, singing in a men's choir, listening to music and reading. He is married and has three sons.