Pablo Neruda

Who is Pablo Neruda?

Pablo Neruda was the pen name of Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century. Born in Parral, Chile, he published his first celebrated collection, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada, in 1924 at the age of nineteen. Over his career he moved from sensual love poetry to surrealist and deeply political verse, most notably in his epic Canto General (1950), a sweeping poetic history of Latin America. Neruda served as a Chilean consul and diplomat in Asia, Spain and Latin America, and was an active member of the Chilean Communist Party, at times forced into exile for his political views. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971. He died in Santiago in September 1973, days after the military coup that overthrew his friend President Salvador Allende. His homes at Isla Negra, Valparaíso and Santiago are now museums.

Sources: Pablo Neruda, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (1924) · Pablo Neruda, Canto General (1950) · Pablo Neruda, Confieso que he vivido: Memorias (1974) · Nobel Prize in Literature 1971, nobelprize.org