The Beauty of Shorthand

“Martín Córdoba discovered that within shorthand signs, so simple and often underestimated, there dwells an aesthetic universe. Where others see only speed and technique, he perceives rhythm, cadence, formal beauty, and silence transformed into art. His vision turns each stroke into a story, each sign into contemplation, and reveals that pencil shorthand is a graphic language capable of moving even those of us who do not know its code” (Lic. Natalia Martínez, author of the poems “Where the Sign Breathes”, “Academias Pitman”, and of the poetic epigraphs for the blogs La Taquigrafía and Shorthand Calligraphy).




Profile of Martín E. Córdoba

Former parliamentary stenographer (Legislature of Tucumán, Senate of the Argentine Nation), former professor of Taquigrafía Pitman and shorthand calligrapher. He was born with several motor disabilities: amputation of the left forearm with absence of the hand, absence of the left foot, and malformations in all the fingers of the right hand. He studied at Academias Pitman, where he obtained the titles of Taquígrafo (Tucumán, February 1994) and Técnico en Taquigrafía Parlamentaria (Montevideo, Uruguay, January 2009), as well as a certificate in Calligraphy (Tucumán, April 1995).

Among his contributions to shorthand, he presented projects to the Secretariat of Education of Tucumán (2004) and to the Legislature of Tucumán (2005) to promote and disseminate the teaching of shorthand; taught shorthand courses at the Círculo del Magisterio de Tucumán (since 2003); was a stenographer of sacred oratory in an Orthodox parish in Tucumán (since 2006); became Ibero-American runner-up in shorthand/stenotyping (Buenos Aires, 2010); achieved 5th place in the general classification —among the 48 classified competitors— and 1st place in Spanish at the World Championship of Taquigrafía a Lápiz (Paris, 2011); is author of the Manual de gramálogos parlamentarios (declared of legislative interest, resolution no. 29/2010); developed the original concept of Caligrafía Taquigráfica (2010); created the blogs La Taquigrafía, Caligrafía Taquigráfica (a multilingual proposal available in English, French, Portuguese, German, and Italian), and Pencil Shorthand; and wrote articles on the history and teaching of Academias Pitman in Argentina.

Awards and Distinctions

Recognition diploma for 15 years of service in the Legislature of Tucumán (Tucumán, July 2010).

Honorary certification from the University of San Pablo T (Tucumán, December 4, 2010).

Inti Kay Honor Mention (Tucumán, December 13, 2010).

Recognition diploma and commemorative plaque from the Legislature of Tucumán, resolution no. 297/2010 (Tucumán, December 16, 2010).

Honor Diploma from Revista El Puente (Tucumán, December 6, 2011).

Commemorative plaque from the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation, order of the day no. 537, resolution approved on August 22, 2012 (Tucumán, December 27, 2012).



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