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122-539: Pablo Neruda ( / n ə ˈ r uː d ə / nə- ROO -də ; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpaβlo neˈɾuða] ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto ; 12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature . Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics , political manifestos ,

244-470: A concentration camp in the town of Pisagua . Neruda's criticism of González Videla culminated in a dramatic speech in the Chilean senate on 6 January 1948, which became known as "Yo acuso" ("I accuse"), during which he read out the names of the miners and their families who were imprisoned at the concentration camp. In 1959, Neruda was present when Fidel Castro was honored at a welcoming ceremony hosted by

366-549: A Chilean visa for the Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros , who had been accused of involvement in the conspiracy to assassinate Trotsky. Neruda later stated that he had done it at the request of the Mexican President, Manuel Ávila Camacho . This allowed Siqueiros, who was then imprisoned, to leave Mexico for Chile, where he stayed at Neruda's private residence. In return for Neruda's assistance, Siqueiros spent over

488-491: A book about Neruda's final days in 2012. In June 2013, a Chilean judge ordered an investigation to be launched following suggestions that Neruda had been killed by the Pinochet regime due to his pro-Allende stance and political views. Neruda's driver, Manuel Araya, claimed that he had seen Neruda two days prior to his death and that doctors had administered poison as the poet was preparing to go into exile. Araya claimed that he

610-420: A book of poetry that Neruda later published anonymously in 1952. from "Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon" Full woman, fleshly apple, hot moon, thick smell of seaweed, crushed mud and light, what obscure brilliance opens between your columns? What ancient night does a man touch with his senses? Loving is a journey with water and with stars, with smothered air and abrupt storms of flour: loving

732-557: A campaign to undermine his reputation, reviving the old claim that he had been an accomplice in the attack on Leon Trotsky in Mexico City in 1940. The campaign became more intense when it became known that Neruda was a candidate for the 1964 Nobel Prize, which was eventually awarded to Jean-Paul Sartre . (who rejected it). In 1966, Neruda was invited to attend an International PEN conference in New York City . Officially, he

854-524: A city in Linares Province , now part of the greater Maule Region , some 350 km south of Santiago . His father, José del Carmen Reyes Morales, was a railway employee, and his mother Rosa Neftalí Basoalto Opazo was a school teacher who died on 14 September two months after he was born. On 26 September, he was baptized in the parish of San Jose de Parral. Neruda grew up in Temuco with Rodolfo and

976-401: A collection of love poems that was controversial for its eroticism, especially considering its author's young age. Both works were critically acclaimed and have been translated into many languages. A second edition of Veinte poemas appeared in 1932. In the years since its publication, millions of copies have been sold, and it became Neruda's best-known work. Almost 100 years later, Veinte Poemas

1098-556: A couple of weeks before. Neruda's house was broken into, and his papers and books taken or destroyed. In 1974, his Memoirs appeared under the title I Confess I Have Lived, updated to the last days of the poet's life, and including a final segment describing the death of Salvador Allende during the storming of the Moneda Palace by General Pinochet and other generals – occurring only 12 days before Neruda died. Matilde Urrutia subsequently compiled and edited for publication

1220-722: A divorce in Mexico in 1943. His estranged wife moved to Monte Carlo to escape the hostilities in Spain and then to the Netherlands with their very ill only child, and he never saw either of them again. After leaving his wife, Neruda lived with Delia del Carril in France, eventually marrying her (shortly after his divorce) in Tetecala in 1943; however, his new marriage was not recognized by Chilean authorities as his divorce from Vogelzang

1342-601: A forestry estate in the vicinity of Huishue Lake . Neruda's life underground ended in March 1949 when he fled over the Lilpela Pass in the Andes Mountains to Argentina on horseback. He would dramatically recount his escape from Chile in his Nobel Prize lecture. Once out of Chile, he spent the next three years in exile. In Buenos Aires , Neruda took advantage of the slight resemblance between him and his friend,

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1464-722: A growing #MeToo and anti-femicide movement , stated that Neruda should not be honored by his country, describing the passage as evidence of rape. Neruda remains a controversial figure for Chileans, and especially for Chilean feminists . Neruda owned three houses in Chile; today, they are all open to the public as museums: La Chascona in Santiago, La Sebastiana in Valparaíso , and Casa de Isla Negra in Isla Negra , where he and Matilde Urrutia are buried. A bust of Neruda stands on

1586-469: A half-sister, Laura Herminia "Laurita," from one of his father's extramarital affairs (her mother was Aurelia Tolrà, a Catalan woman). He composed his first poems in the winter of 1914. Neruda was an atheist . something started in my soul, fever or forgotten wings, and I made my own way, deciphering that fire and wrote the first faint line, faint without substance, pure nonsense, pure wisdom, of someone who knows nothing, and suddenly I saw

1708-710: A liceo (high school) in Los Andes , where she remained for six years, frequently visiting Santiago. In 1918, Pedro Aguirre Cerda , the Minister of Education and future President of Chile , appointed her as the director of the Sara Braun Lyceum in Punta Arenas . She subsequently moved to Temuco in 1920 and then to Santiago in 1921, defeating a candidate associated with the Radical Party to become

1830-541: A lifelong friendship between the two poets. Mistral's international stature made it unlikely for her to remain in Chile. In mid-1925, she was invited to represent Latin America in the newly formed Institute for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations . In early 1926, she relocated to France, effectively becoming an exile for the rest of her life. Initially, she made a living through journalism and giving lectures in

1952-521: A lively literary circle, befriending such writers as Rafael Alberti , Federico García Lorca , and the Peruvian poet César Vallejo . His only offspring, his daughter Malva Marina (Trinidad) Reyes , was born in Madrid in 1934, the product of his first marriage to María Antonia Hagenaar Vogelzang. Reyes was plagued with severe health problems, particularly suffering from hydrocephalus . She died in 1943 at

2074-677: A mother's love, sorrow and recovery, travel, and Latin American identity as formed from a mixture of Native American and European influences. Her image is featured on the 5,000 Chilean peso banknote. Mistral was born in Vicuña , Chile, but grew up in Montegrande, an Andean village where she attended a primary school taught by her older sister, Emelina Molina. Despite the financial problems caused by Emelina later on, Mistral held great respect for her. Her father, Juan Gerónimo Godoy Villanueva,

2196-588: A mountain pass near Maihue Lake into Argentina; he would not return to Chile for more than three years. He was a close advisor to Chile's socialist president Salvador Allende , and when he got back to Chile after accepting his Nobel Prize in Stockholm , Allende invited him to read at the Estadio Nacional before 70,000 people. Neruda was hospitalized with cancer in September 1973, at the time of

2318-528: A national education system. During this time, she gained international recognition through her journalism, public speaking, and the publication of her work Desolación in New York . She later published Lecturas para Mujeres (Readings for Women), a collection of prose and verse celebrating girls' education, featuring works by Latin American and European writers. After spending nearly two years in Mexico, Mistral traveled to Washington D.C. , where she addressed

2440-502: A political activist, his stance as a communist comes out in his poem as he calls the wealthy corporations “bloodthirsty flies” and resembles a “dictatorship.” He compares United Fruit Inc. to big-name companies such as Coca-Cola and Ford Motors to emphasize their strength and power over the little countries residing in Latin America. In addition, his writing skills truly came out in this poem, solidifying his worthiness of being named

2562-543: A prose autobiography, and passionate love poems such as the ones in his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924). Neruda occupied many diplomatic positions in various countries during his lifetime and served a term as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party . When President Gabriel González Videla outlawed communism in Chile in 1948, a warrant was issued for Neruda's arrest. Friends hid him for months, and in 1949, he escaped through

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2684-405: A relationship with Delia del Carril  [ es ] , an aristocratic Argentine artist who was 20 years his senior. Reyes was repudiated, mocked, and abandoned by her father and died in utter indigence when she was 8 years old in war-devastated and Nazi-occupied Netherlands. As Spain became engulfed in civil war , Neruda became intensely politicized for the first time. His experiences during

2806-626: A resentment towards God . Her collection of poems titled Desolación , inspired by the loss of her first love and later the death of a beloved nephew, impacted many others. The fifteenth poem in Desolación expressed sorrow for the loss of a child and resonated with those who experienced the pain of losing loved ones. However, Gabriela Mistral's books do not solely focus on themes of death, desolation, and loss. She also explored themes of love and motherhood, not only in relation to her beloved railroad employee and nephew but also in her interactions with

2928-453: A search of the house and grounds at Isla Negra by Chilean armed forces at which Neruda was reportedly present, the poet famously remarked: "Look around – there's only one thing of danger for you here – poetry." It was originally reported that, on the evening of 23 September 1973, at Santiago's Santa María Clinic, Neruda had died of heart failure. However, "(t)hat day, he was alone in the hospital where he had already spent five days. His health

3050-511: A serious blood infection. The bacteria was found to have been mainly concentrated in one of Neruda's molars . Some scientists involved in the testing also spoke with Deutsche Welle to deny the family's claim that the testing confirmed he was poisoned; despite at times being used as a biological weapon, the bacteria also has a long history of being present in food products such as fruit, vegetables, seafood and canned food and at times has been even used for medical treatment. John Austin, who leads

3172-664: A son and called Yin Yin, tragically took his own life. The grief from this loss, along with her responses to the tensions of World War II and the Cold War in Europe and the Americas, are reflected in her last volume of poetry published during her lifetime, Lagar , which appeared in a truncated form in 1954. Her partner Doris Dana edited and published a final volume of poetry, Poema de Chile , posthumously in 1967. Poema de Chile depicts

3294-608: A subsequent visit to China in 1957, Neruda wrote: "What has estranged me from the Chinese revolutionary process has not been Mao Tse-tung but Mao Tse-tungism." He labeled this Mao Tse-Stalinism as "the repetition of a cult of a Socialist deity". Despite his disillusionment with Stalin, Neruda never lost his fundamental faith in communist theory and remained loyal to the Communist party. Anxious not to provide ammunition to his ideological enemies, he would later refuse publicly to condemn

3416-463: A teacher in a rural school. Catholicism, a significant influence in Mistral's life, is also evident in her literature; however, she maintains a neutral stance toward religion. Her writing skillfully combines religious themes with emotions of love and piety, solidifying her position as one of the most esteemed representatives of Latin American literature in the 20th century. During the 1970s and 1980s,

3538-556: A teacher, she used a pen name, fearing the consequences of revealing her true identity. Mistral won first prize in the national literary contest Juegos Florales held in Santiago , the capital of Chile. Exploring themes of death and life more broadly than previous Latin American poets , she expanded her poetic horizons. While Mistral had passionate friendships with both men and women, which influenced her writing, she kept her emotional life private. Since June 1908, Mistral had been using

3660-616: A warm reception at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras , where she gave conferences and wrote in 1931, 1932, and 1933. Like many Latin American artists and intellectuals, Mistral served as a consul from 1932 until her death, working in various locations including Naples , Madrid, Lisbon , Nice , Petrópolis , Los Angeles , Santa Barbara , Veracruz , Rapallo , and New York City. While serving as consul in Madrid, she had occasional professional interactions with fellow Chilean consul and Nobel Prize recipient Pablo Neruda. Mistral

3782-551: A way out of the impossible,” said Dominique de Villepin , French Foreign Minister and a published poet in July 2002. These poets have also served as Ambassadors of their countries Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga ( Latin American Spanish: [luˈsila ɣoˈðoj alkaˈʝaɣa] ; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral ( Spanish: [ɡaˈβɾjela misˈtɾal] ),

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3904-625: A wedge between Neruda and his long-time friend, Mexican poet Octavio Paz , who commented that "Neruda became more and more Stalinist, while I became less and less enchanted with Stalin." Their differences came to a head after the Nazi-Soviet Ribbentrop–Molotov Pact of 1939, when they almost came to blows in an argument over Stalin. Although Paz still considered Neruda "The greatest poet of his generation", in an essay on Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn , he wrote that when he thinks of "Neruda and other famous Stalinist writers and poets, I feel

4026-570: A year painting a mural at a school in Chillán . While Neruda's relationship with Siqueiros drew criticism, he dismissed the allegation that his intent had been to aid an assassin as "sensationalist politico-literary harassment". In 1943, upon his return to Chile, Neruda embarked on a tour of Peru , where he visited Machu Picchu . This experience later inspired Alturas de Macchu Picchu , a book-length poem in 12 parts that he completed in 1945. The poem expressed his growing awareness of and interest in

4148-507: Is a clash of lightning-bolts and two bodies defeated by a single drop of honey. From "Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon", Selected Poems translated by Stephen Mitchell (1997) While in Mexico, Neruda also published his lengthy epic poem Canto General , a Whitmanesque catalog of the history, geography, and flora and fauna of South America, accompanied by Neruda's observations and experiences. Many of them dealt with his time underground in Chile, during which he composed much of

4270-485: Is a fictional work about a humble man who is hired to deliver mail by bicycle to just one recipient of the island Procida , Neruda, living there in exile. Poet-diplomat Abhay Kumar wrote, "There seems to be a connection between poetry and diplomacy as several diplomats over the ages have excelled in poetry". He further adds, "Diplomacy is a complex art that involves the mixing of political acumen, cultural finesse, language abilities and conversation skills to wield

4392-412: Is being made, and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer ‘Tomorrow,’ his name is today. Mistral's work incorporates gray tones and conveys recurring feelings of sadness and bitterness, reflecting her difficult childhood marked by deprivation and a lack of affection at home. Despite this, her writings also reveal her deep affection for children, which she developed during her early years as

4514-509: Is echoed in poems such as Canto a Stalingrado ("Song to Stalingrad") (1942) and Nuevo canto de amor a Stalingrado ("New Love Song to Stalingrad") (1943). In 1953, Neruda was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize . Upon Stalin's death that same year, Neruda wrote an ode to him, as he also wrote poems in praise of Fulgencio Batista , Saludo a Batista ("Salute to Batista"), and later, Fidel Castro . His fervent Stalinism eventually drove

4636-537: Is still the best-selling poetry book in the Spanish language. By the age of 20, Neruda had established an international reputation as a poet but faced poverty. In 1926, Neruda published the collection tentativa del hombre infinito ( venture of the infinite man ) and the novel El habitante y su esperanza ( The Inhabitant and His Hope ). In 1927, out of financial desperation, he took an honorary consulship in Rangoon ,

4758-453: Is the diplomat’s job. A diplomat may turn a lie into a ‘constructive ambiguity’ – which is a way of defining poetry. Some poets have been diplomats – Neruda, Claudel, St. John Perse. It’s an occupational hazard: the stimulating place, the sheltered existence – and the ability to paraphrase the unknowable. Few diplomats will admit to using poetry as a survival strategy". Kamel S. Abu Jaber wrote,"The language of diplomacy, often like poetry, has

4880-567: The Winnipeg . Neruda is sometimes charged with having selected only fellow Communists for emigration, to the exclusion of others who had fought on the side of the Republic. Many Republicans and Anarchists were killed during the German invasion and occupation. Others deny these accusations, pointing out that Neruda chose only a few hundred of the 2,000 refugees personally; the rest were selected by

5002-471: The Central University of Venezuela . There, he spoke to a massive gathering of students and read his poem Un canto para Bolívar ("A Song for Bolívar"). Prior to this, he shared his sentiments: "In this painful and victorious hour that the peoples of the Americas are living, my poem, with changes in location, can be understood as directed towards Fidel Castro, because in the struggles for freedom,

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5124-473: The Pan American Union , and then continued her journey to New York and Europe. In Madrid , she published Ternura (Tenderness), a collection of lullabies and rondas intended for children, parents, and fellow poets. She returned to Chile in early 1925, formally retiring from the country's education system and receiving a pension. Just in time, as the legislature had recently granted the demands of

5246-855: The Spanish Republic , publishing the collection España en el corazón ( Spain in Our Hearts , 1938). He lost his post as consul due to his political militancy. In July 1937, he attended the Second International Writers' Congress, the purpose of which was to discuss the attitude of intellectuals toward the war in Spain, held in Valencia , Barcelona , and Madrid and attended by many writers including André Malraux , Ernest Hemingway , and Stephen Spender . Neruda's marriage to Vogelzang broke down, and he eventually obtained

5368-402: The coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet that overthrew Allende's government, but returned home after a few days when he suspected a doctor of injecting him with an unknown substance for the purpose of murdering him on Pinochet's orders. Neruda died at his home in Isla Negra on 23 September 1973, just hours after leaving the hospital. Although it was long reported that he died of heart failure,

5490-410: The interior ministry of the Chilean government issued a statement in 2015 acknowledging a ministry document indicating the government's official position that "it was clearly possible and highly likely" that Neruda was killed as a result of "the intervention of third parties". However, an international forensic test conducted in 2013 rejected allegations that he was poisoned. Neruda is often considered

5612-438: The military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet appropriated Gabriela Mistral's image, portraying her as a symbol of "submission to authority" and "social order." Author Licia Fiol-Matta challenged the traditional views of Mistral as a saint-like celibate and suffering heterosexual woman, suggesting that she was a lesbian instead. In 2007, after the death of Mistral's alleged last romantic partner, Doris Dana, her archive

5734-539: The national poet of Chile, and his works have been popular and influential worldwide. The Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez once called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language", and the critic Harold Bloom included Neruda as one of the writers central to the Western tradition in his book The Western Canon . Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto was born on 12 July 1904, in Parral, Chile ,

5856-501: The "great genius of this century". In a speech he gave on 5 June 1946, Neruda also paid tribute to the late Soviet leader Mikhail Kalinin , whom Neruda regarded as a "man of noble life," "the great constructor of the future," and "a comrade in arms of Lenin and Stalin." Neruda later came to regret his fondness for the Soviet Union, explaining that "in those days, Stalin seemed to us the conqueror who had crushed Hitler 's armies." Of

5978-410: The 2015 test showed it was "highly probable that a third party" was responsible for his death. Test results were released on 8 November 2013 of the seven-month investigation by a 15-member forensic team. Patricio Bustos, the head of Chile's medical legal service, stated, "No relevant chemical substances have been found that could be linked to Mr. Neruda's death" at the time. However, Carroza said that he

6100-569: The Botulism Reference Service for Canada, also told Deutsche Welle that the mere presence of C. botulinum is not harmful to humans, and that it the harm that comes from it is the toxins it produces when it grows. Austin further stated the bacteria in Neruda's mouth could've even expanded after he died, as it is common for bacteria to multiply in the body among people after they die. Fabrizio Anniballi, another botulism expert who

6222-433: The Chilean officials to lift his arrest, allowing Urrutia and Neruda to go to Capri, Italy. Now united with Urrutia, Neruda would, aside from many foreign trips and a stint as Allende's ambassador to France from 1970 to 1973, spend the rest of his life in Chile. By this time, Neruda enjoyed worldwide fame as a poet, and his books were being translated into virtually all the major languages of the world. He vigorously denounced

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6344-469: The Chilean poet and educator with a special doodle . Gabriela Mistral has greatly influenced Latin American poetry. In a powerful speech by Swedish writer Hjalmar Gullberg , a member of the Swedish Academy , he provided insights into the perspective and emotions of Gabriela Mistral. Gullberg discussed how the language of troubadours , once unintelligible to Frédéric Mistral's own mother, became

6466-623: The Chilean received the prize. "A poet," Neruda stated in his Stockholm speech of acceptance of the Nobel Prize, "is at the same time a force for solidarity and for solitude." The following year, Neruda was awarded the prestigious Golden Wreath Award at the Struga Poetry Evenings . As the coup d'état of 1973 unfolded, Neruda was diagnosed with prostate cancer . The military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet saw Neruda's hopes for Chile destroyed. Shortly thereafter, during

6588-563: The Cuban revolution, and he never visited the island again, even after receiving an invitation in 1968. After the death of Che Guevara in Bolivia in 1967, Neruda wrote several articles regretting the loss of a "great hero". At the same time, he told his friend Aida Figueroa not to cry for Che but for Luis Emilio Recabarren , the father of the Chilean communist movement who preached a pacifist revolution over Che's violent ways. In 1970, Neruda

6710-614: The Director of the Hispanic Institute of New York. The collection of poems explored themes such as motherhood, religion, nature, morality, and love for children. Her personal sorrows were reflected in the poems, solidifying her international reputation. Departing from the modernist trends in Latin America, Mistral's work was hailed by critics as straightforward yet simplistic. Two years later, in 1924, she released her second book, Ternura ("Tenderness"). During her adolescence,

6832-583: The National Poet of Chile. In this poem, he used tons of imagery, metaphors, irony, symbolism, and an overall witty tone to get his point of dislike towards big corrupt corporations and promotion of communism. After returning to Chile, Neruda was given diplomatic posts in Buenos Aires and then Barcelona , Spain. He later succeeded Gabriela Mistral as consul in Madrid , where he became the center of

6954-622: The Nobel Prize in Literature. King Gustav of Sweden presented her with the award in person on 10 December 1945. In 1947, she received an honorary doctorate from Mills College in Oakland , California . In 1951, she was awarded the National Literature Prize in Chile. Poor health limited Mistral's travel in her final years. She resided in the town of Roslyn, New York , and then transferred to Hempstead, New York , where she died from pancreatic cancer on 10 January 1957 at

7076-472: The Peruvian government had come out against the government of Fidel Castro in Cuba , July 1966 saw more than 100 Cuban intellectuals retaliate against the poet by signing a letter that charged Neruda with colluding with the enemy, calling him an example of the "tepid, pro-Yankee revisionism" then prevalent in Latin America. The affair was particularly painful for Neruda because of his previous outspoken support for

7198-555: The Sea"), in the local newspapers El Coquimbo: Diario Radical and La Voz de Elqui , using different pseudonyms and variations of her name. In 1906, Mistral met Romelio Ureta, a railway worker and her first love, who tragically took his own life in 1909. Shortly after, her second love married someone else. These heartbreaks were reflected in her early poetry and gained recognition with her first published literary work in 1914, Sonetos de la muerte ("Sonnets on Death"). To protect her job as

7320-502: The September 1952 presidential elections and was keen to have the presence of Neruda, by now Chile's most prominent left-wing literary figure, to support the campaign. Neruda returned to Chile in August of that year and rejoined Delia del Carril, who had traveled ahead of him some months earlier, but the marriage was crumbling. Del Carril eventually learned of his affair with Matilde Urrutia, and he sent her back to Chile in 1955. She convinced

7442-843: The Service for the Evacuation of Spanish Refugees set up by Juan Negrín , President of the Spanish Republican Government in Exile . Neruda's next diplomatic post was as Consul General in Mexico City from 1940 to 1943. During his time there, he married del Carril and learned that his daughter Malva had died at the age of eight in Nazi-occupied Netherlands. In 1940, following the failed assassination attempt against Leon Trotsky , Neruda arranged

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7564-436: The Soviet Union. His trip to Mexico in late 1949 was lengthened due to a serious bout of phlebitis . A Chilean singer named Matilde Urrutia was hired to care for him, and they began an affair that would, years later, culminate in marriage. During his exile, Urrutia would travel from country to country, shadowing him, and they would arrange meetings whenever they could. Matilde Urrutia was the muse for Los versos del capitán ,

7686-769: The Soviet repression of dissident writers like Boris Pasternak and Joseph Brodsky , an attitude with which even some of his staunchest admirers disagreed. On 4 March 1945, Neruda was elected as a Communist Senator representing the northern provinces of Antofagasta and Tarapacá in the Atacama Desert . He officially joined the Communist Party of Chile four months later. In 1946, the Radical Party's presidential candidate, Gabriel González Videla , asked Neruda to act as his campaign manager. González Videla

7808-552: The Spanish Civil War and its aftermath moved him away from privately focused work in the direction of collective obligation. Neruda became an ardent Communist for the rest of his life. The radical leftist politics of his literary friends, as well as that of del Carril, were contributing factors, but the most important catalyst was the execution of García Lorca by forces loyal to the dictator Francisco Franco . Through his speeches and writings, Neruda threw his support behind

7930-532: The US, Sweden; they have all offered to do the lab work for free." The Pablo Neruda Foundation fought the exhumation on the grounds that Araya's claims were unbelievable. In June 2013, a court order was issued to find the man who allegedly poisoned Neruda. Police were investigating Michael Townley , who was facing trial for the killings of General Carlos Prats (Buenos Aires, 1974) and ex-Chancellor Orlando Letelier (Washington, 1976). The Chilean government suggested that

8052-752: The United States and Latin America, including Puerto Rico , the Caribbean , Brazil , Uruguay , and Argentina . Between 1926 and 1932, Mistral primarily resided in France and Italy . During this period, she worked for the League for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations, attending conferences throughout Europe and the Americas. She held a visiting professorship at Barnard College of Columbia University in 1930–1931, briefly worked at Middlebury College and Vassar College in 1931, and received

8174-488: The United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis and later in the decade repeatedly condemned the U.S. for its involvement in the Vietnam War . But being one of the most prestigious and outspoken left-wing intellectuals alive, he also attracted opposition from ideological opponents. The Congress for Cultural Freedom , an anti-communist organization covertly established and funded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency , adopted Neruda as one of its primary targets and launched

8296-444: The ability to move people from mood to mood". Stefano Baldi and Pasquale Baldocci wrote in their book Through the Diplomatic Looking Glass ,"The publication of poetry by diplomats seems more inspired by an inner need to express oneself freely than the wish to share sensations and feelings developed during the career. Only verses with their detachment from reality can present an escape from cold and bureaucratic style often imposed by

8418-493: The age of 67. Her remains were returned to Chile nine days later, and the Chilean government declared three days of national mourning , with hundreds of thousands of mourners paying their respects. Some of Mistral's best-known poems include Piececitos de Niño , Balada , Todas Íbamos a ser Reinas , La Oración de la Maestra , El Ángel Guardián , Decálogo del Artista , and La Flor del Aire . She also wrote and published approximately 800 essays in magazines and newspapers. Mistral

8540-404: The age of eight, having spent most of her short life with a foster family in the Netherlands after Neruda ignored and abandoned her, forcing her mother to work solely to support her care. Half of that time was during the Nazi occupation of Holland, when the Nazi view of birth defects was that they denoted genetic inferiority. During this period, Neruda became estranged from his wife and instead began

8662-436: The ancient civilizations of the Americas. He further explored this theme in Canto General (1950). In Alturas , Neruda celebrated the achievement of Macchu Picchu but also condemned the slavery that had made it possible. In Canto XII , he called upon the dead of many centuries to be reborn and speak through him. Martín Espada , a poet and professor of creative writing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst , has hailed

8784-550: The capital of the British colony of Burma , then administered from New Delhi as a province of British India . Later, mired in isolation and loneliness, he worked in Colombo ( Ceylon ), Batavia ( Java ), and Singapore . In Batavia the following year, he met and married (December 6, 1930) his first wife, a Dutch bank employee named Marijke Antonieta Hagenaar Vogelzang (born as Marietje Antonia Hagenaar), known as Maruca. While he

8906-492: The children she taught. Her collection of songs and rounds, titled Ternura , reflects her love for the children in her school. Published in Madrid in 1924, these heartfelt words were embraced by four thousand Mexican children who sang them as a tribute to Mistral. Her dedication to her children earned her the title of the Poet of Motherhood. Having lived through two world wars and other violent conflicts, Mistral's experiences paved

9028-439: The destiny of a man always emerges to instill confidence in the spirit of greatness in the history of our nations." During the late 1960s, Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges was asked for his opinion on Neruda. Borges stated, "I think of him as a very fine poet, a very fine poet. I don't admire him as a man; I think of him as a very mean man." He said that Neruda had not spoken out against Argentine President Juan Perón because he

9150-483: The director of Santiago's Liceo #6, the country's newest and most prestigious girls' school. The controversy surrounding Gabriela Mistral's nomination for the coveted position in Santiago influenced her decision to accept an invitation to work in Mexico in 1922, under the guidance of Mexico's Minister of Education, José Vasconcelos . There, she contributed to the nation's plan to reform libraries and schools and establish

9272-598: The external debt of Chile, billions owed to European and American banks, but within months of his arrival in Paris, his health began to deteriorate. Neruda returned to Chile two-and-a-half years later due to his failing health. In 1971, Neruda was awarded the Nobel Prize , a decision that did not come easily because some of the committee members had not forgotten Neruda's past praise of Stalinist dictatorship. But his Swedish translator, Artur Lundkvist , did his best to ensure

9394-570: The future Nobel Prize-winning novelist and cultural attaché to the Guatemalan embassy, Miguel Ángel Asturias , to travel to Europe using Asturias' passport. Pablo Picasso arranged his entrance into Paris , and Neruda made a surprise appearance there to a stunned World Congress of Peace Forces, while the Chilean government denied that the poet could have escaped the country. Neruda spent those three years traveling extensively throughout Europe as well as taking trips to India, China, Sri Lanka , and

9516-587: The gooseflesh that I get from reading certain passages of the Inferno . No doubt they began in good faith ... but insensibly, commitment by commitment, they saw themselves becoming entangled in a mesh of lies, falsehoods, deceits, and perjuries, until they lost their souls." On 15 July 1945, at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo , Brazil, Neruda read to 100,000 people in honor of the Communist revolutionary leader Luís Carlos Prestes . Neruda hailed Vladimir Lenin as

9638-667: The grounds of the Organization of American States building in Washington, D.C. Chilean composer Sergio Ortega worked closely with Neruda in the musical play Fulgor y muerte de Joaquín Murieta ( Splendor and death of Joaquín Murieta ) in 1967. In 1998, Ortega expanded the piece into an opera, leaving Neruda's text intact. Numerous groups and individuals have set the poems by Neruda to music, including: The biographical dramas Neruda (2016) and Alborada (2021) center on Neruda's life. The Italian film Il Postino (1994)

9760-462: The heavens unfastened and open. From "Poetry", Memorial de Isla Negra (1964). Trans. Alastair Reid. Neruda's father opposed his son's interest in writing and literature, but he received encouragement from others, including the future Nobel Prize winner Gabriela Mistral , who headed the local school. On 18 July 1917, at the age of 13, he published his first work, an essay titled "Entusiasmo y perseverancia" ("Enthusiasm and Perseverance") in

9882-449: The help of her older sister, Emelina, who had likewise begun as a teacher's aide and was responsible for much of the poet's early education. Through her publications in local and national newspapers and magazines, as well as her willingness to relocate, she advanced from one teaching position to another. Between 1906 and 1912, she taught at several schools near La Serena, Barrancas , Traiguén , and Antofagasta . In 1912, she began working at

10004-498: The intention of becoming a teacher. However, he soon devoted all his time to writing poems, and with the help of well-known writer Eduardo Barrios , he managed to meet and impress Don Carlos George Nascimento, the most important publisher in Chile at the time. In 1923, his first volume of verse, Crepusculario ( Book of Twilights ), was published by Editorial Nascimento, followed the next year by Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada ( Twenty Love Poems and A Desperate Song ),

10126-482: The language of poetry. This language continued to thrive with the birth of Gabriela Mistral, whose voice shook the world and opened the eyes and ears of those willing to listen. Gullberg noted that after experiencing the suicide of her first love, Gabriela Mistral emerged as a poet whose words spread across South America and beyond. While little is known about her first love, his death influenced Mistral's poems, which often explored themes of death, despair, and possibly

10248-405: The local daily newspaper La Mañana, and signed it Neftalí Reyes. From 1918 to mid-1920, he published numerous poems, such as "Mis ojos" ("My eyes"), and essays in local magazines as Neftalí Reyes. In 1919, he participated in the literary contest Juegos Florales del Maule and won third place for his poem "Comunión ideal" or "Nocturno ideal." By mid-1920, when he adopted the pseudonym Pablo Neruda, he

10370-518: The memoirs and possibly his final poem "Right Comrade, It's the Hour of the Garden." These and other activities brought her into conflict with Pinochet's government, which continually sought to curtail Neruda's influence on the Chilean collective consciousness. Urrutia's own memoir, My Life with Pablo Neruda, was published posthumously in 1986. Manuel Araya, his Communist Party-appointed chauffeur, published

10492-626: The next 13 months. While in hiding, Senator Neruda was removed from office, and in September 1948, the Communist Party was banned altogether under the Ley de Defensa Permanente de la Democracia, called by critics the Ley Maldita (Accursed Law), which eliminated over 26,000 people from the electoral registers, thus stripping them of their right to vote. Neruda later moved to Valdivia in southern Chile. From Valdivia, he moved to Fundo Huishue,

10614-640: The pen name Gabriela Mistral for most of her writing. After winning the Juegos Florales, she rarely used her given name, Lucila Godoy, for her publications. She constructed her pseudonym from the names of two of her favorite poets, Gabriele D'Annunzio and Frédéric Mistral , or, according to another account, as a combination of the Archangel Gabriel and the mistral wind of Provence . In 1922, Mistral published her debut book, Desolación ("Desolation"), with assistance from Federico de Onis,

10736-452: The poem. In fact, he had carried the manuscript with him during his escape on horseback. A month later, a different edition of 5,000 copies was boldly published in Chile by the outlawed Communist Party, based on a manuscript Neruda had left behind. In Mexico, he was granted honorary Mexican citizenship. Neruda's 1952 stay in a villa owned by Italian historian Edwin Cerio on the island of Capri

10858-481: The poet had been in an imminent situation of death at the moment of entering the hospital" and that death from prostate cancer was not likely at the moment when he died. The team also discovered something in Neruda's remains that could possibly be a laboratory-cultivated bacterium. The results of their continuing analysis were expected in 2018. His cause of death was, in fact, listed as a heart attack. Scientists who exhumed Neruda's body in 2013 also supported claims that he

10980-472: The poet's return to Chile after death, accompanied by an Indian boy from the Atacama desert and an Andean deer, the huemul . This collection of poetry foreshadows the interest in objective description and re-vision of the epic tradition that would emerge among poets of the Americas, all of whom Mistral carefully read. On 15 November 1945, Mistral became the first Latin American and the fifth woman to receive

11102-417: The power of persuasion. Diplomacy is generally conducted in short sentences which reveal as much as much [ sic ] they hide. Poetry is no different". He adds that poetry and diplomacy share a few attributes such as ambiguity and brevity in expressions, a detached handling of the subject matter among others. Aldo Matteucci wrote, "Many diplomats have used poetry in their diplomatic work: wrapping words in silk

11224-560: The presence of many Eastern Bloc writers, Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes later wrote that the PEN conference marked a "beginning of the end" of the Cold War . Upon Neruda's return to Chile, he stopped in Peru, where he gave readings to enthusiastic crowds in Lima and Arequipa and was received by President Fernando Belaúnde Terry . However, this visit also prompted an unpleasant backlash; because

11346-486: The pro-Pinochet El Mercurio newspaper the day after Neruda's death refer to an injection given immediately before Neruda's death. According to an official Chilean Interior Ministry report prepared in March 2015 for the court investigation into Neruda's death, "he was either given an injection or something orally" at the Santa María Clinic "which caused his death six-and-a-half hours later. The 1971 Nobel laureate

11468-429: The profession". Brazil bestowed the rank of Ambassador posthumously to its poet-diplomat Vinicius de Moraes recognizing his poetic talent. Russian diplomats have a curious obsession with poetry. “Poets and diplomats use the same building blocks: the idea and the word,” said Vladimir Kazimirov. “Poetry and diplomacy both rely on the alchemy of paradox. We mix fear and hope, power and weakness, love and hate to find

11590-461: The remains of the poet. Carroza had been conducting probes into hundreds of deaths allegedly connected to abuses of Pinochet's regime from 1973 to 1990. Carroza's inquiry during 2011–12 uncovered enough evidence to order the exhumation in April 2013. Eduardo Contreras, a Chilean lawyer who was leading the push for a full investigation, commented, "We have world-class labs from India, Switzerland, Germany,

11712-665: The scarcity of trained teachers, especially in rural areas, allowed anyone willing to work to find employment as a teacher. However, the young woman faced challenges in accessing good schools due to her lack of political and social connections. In 1907, she was rejected from the Normal School without explanation, which she later attributed to the school's chaplain, Father Ignacio Munizaga, who was aware of her publications advocating for educational reform and increased access to schools for all social classes. Although her formal education ended in 1900, she secured teaching positions with

11834-653: The teachers' union, led by Mistral's rival Amanda Labarca Hubertson , stipulating that only university-trained teachers could be appointed in schools. Despite her limited formal education, Mistral received the academic title of Spanish Professor from the University of Chile in 1923, which highlighted her remarkable self-education and her intellectual abilities, nurtured by the vibrant culture of newspapers, magazines, and books in provincial Chile. Pablo Neruda , Chile's second Nobel Prize laureate in literature, met Mistral when she relocated to his hometown, Temuco. She introduced him to her poetry and recommended readings, leading to

11956-427: The way for her third major collection, Tala (meaning "ravage" according to Gullberg). Tala encompasses a blend of sacred hymns, simple songs for children, and poems that touch on subjects like water, corn, salt, and wine. Gullberg pays homage to Mistral, acknowledging her as the great singer of sorrow and motherhood in Latin America. Mistral's collections of poems and songs beautifully express her care for children and

12078-474: The work as a masterpiece, declaring that "there is no greater political poem". Bolstered by his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, Neruda, like many left-leaning intellectuals of his generation, came to admire the Soviet Union of Joseph Stalin . He did so partly due to the role it played in defeating Nazi Germany and partly because of an idealistic interpretation of Marxist doctrine. This sentiment

12200-707: Was 31 years younger than Mistral, explicitly denied in her final interview that their relationship was ever romantic or erotic, describing it as that of a stepmother and stepdaughter. Dana also denied being a lesbian and expressed skepticism regarding Mistral's sexual orientation. Mistral suffered from diabetes and heart problems, and she ultimately died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 67 on 10 January 1957, in Hempstead Hospital in New York City, with Doris Dana by her side. On 7 April 2015, Google commemorated Gabriela Mistral's 126th birthday, honoring

12322-517: Was a Chilean poet-diplomat , educator, and Catholic. She was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order or Third Franciscan order. She was the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945, "for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world". Some central themes in her poems are nature, betrayal, love,

12444-481: Was a communist who believed corporations such as this were exploiting Latin America and hurting them. The corporation was corrupt and had a quest for wealth, and throughout his poem, he speaks of how the innocent citizens of Latin America suffered when companies destroyed their land and lifestyles and brought cruelty and injustices to their land. He points out ways that companies manipulate governments and workers in attempts to be greedy towards impoverished countries. As

12566-635: Was a published author of poems, prose, and journalism. He is thought to have derived his pen name from the Czech poet Jan Neruda , though other sources say the true inspiration was Moravian violinist Wilma Neruda , whose name appears in Arthur Conan Doyle's novel A Study in Scarlet . In 1921, at the age of 16, Neruda moved to Santiago to study French at the Universidad de Chile with

12688-526: Was afraid to risk his reputation, noting "I was an Argentine poet; he was a Chilean poet; he's on the side of the Communists; I'm against them. So I felt he was behaving very wisely in avoiding a meeting that would have been quite uncomfortable for both of us." A few weeks after his "Yo acuso" speech in 1948, finding himself threatened with arrest, Neruda went into hiding. He and his wife were smuggled from house to house, hidden by supporters and admirers for

12810-555: Was also a schoolteacher but left the family when she was three years old and died alone and estranged in 1911. Poverty was a constant presence in her early life. At the age of fifteen, she supported herself and her mother, Petronila Alcayaga, a seamstress , by working as a teacher's aide in Compañía Baja, a seaside town near La Serena , Chile. In 1904, Mistral published some early poems, including Ensoñaciones ("Dreams"), Carta Íntima ("Intimate Letter"), and Junto al Mar ("By

12932-648: Was among the early writers to recognize the importance and originality of Neruda's work, which she had known since he was a teenager and she was a school director in his hometown of Temuco. Mistral published hundreds of articles in magazines and newspapers throughout the Spanish-speaking world . She had notable confidants such as Eduardo Santos , President of Colombia , all the elected Presidents of Chile from 1922 to her death in 1957, Eduardo Frei Montalva (who would be elected president in 1964), and Eleanor Roosevelt . Her second major volume of poetry, Tala ,

13054-578: Was barred from entering the U.S. because he was a communist, but the conference organizer, playwright Arthur Miller , eventually prevailed upon the Johnson Administration to grant Neruda a visa. Neruda gave readings to packed halls and even recorded some poems for the Library of Congress . Miller later opined that Neruda's adherence to his communist ideals of the 1930s was a result of his protracted exclusion from "bourgeois society." Due to

13176-520: Was declining, and he called his wife, Matilde Urrutia, so she could come immediately because they were giving him something, and he wasn't feeling good." On 12 May 2011, the Mexican magazine Proceso published an interview with his former driver Manuel Araya Osorio in which he states that he was present when Neruda called his wife and warned that he believed Pinochet had ordered a doctor to kill him, and that he had just been given an injection in his stomach. He died six-and-a-half hours later. Even reports from

13298-455: Was deemed illegal. Following the election of Pedro Aguirre Cerda (whom Neruda supported) as President of Chile in 1938, Neruda was appointed special Consul for Spanish emigrants in Paris. There he was responsible for what he called "the noblest mission I have ever undertaken": transporting 2,000 Spanish refugees who had been housed by the French in squalid camps to Chile on an old ship called

13420-476: Was discovered, containing letters exchanged between Mistral and various occasional female lovers. The publication of these letters in the book Niña errante (2007), edited by Pedro Pablo Zegers, supported the notion of a long-lasting romantic relationship between Mistral and Dana during Mistral's final years. The letters were later translated into English by Velma García and published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2018. Despite these claims, Doris Dana, who

13542-449: Was driving Neruda to buy medicine when he was suddenly stopped by military personnel who arrested him, hijacked the Fiat 125 he was driving, and took him to police headquarters where they tortured Araya. He found out Neruda had died after Santiago Archbishop Raúl Silva Henríquez informed him. In December 2011, Chile's Communist Party asked Chilean Judge Mario Carroza to order the exhumation of

13664-540: Was fictionalized in Antonio Skarmeta 's 1985 novel Ardiente Paciencia ( Ardent Patience, later known as El cartero de Neruda, or Neruda's Postman ), which inspired the popular film Il Postino (1994). By 1952, the González Videla government was on its last legs, weakened by corruption scandals. The Chilean Socialist Party was in the process of nominating Salvador Allende as its candidate for

13786-557: Was from the same source as that found in the molar. In November 2018, the Cultural Committee of Chile's lower house voted in favor of renaming Santiago's main airport after Neruda. The decision sparked protests from feminist groups who highlighted a passage in Neruda's memoirs describing a sexual encounter, his description of which resembles rape, with a maid in 1929 in Ceylon ( Sri Lanka ). Several feminist groups, bolstered by

13908-489: Was in the diplomatic service, Neruda read large amounts of verse, experimented with many different poetic forms, and wrote the first two volumes of Residencia en la Tierra , which include many surrealist poems. In 1950, Neruda wrote a famous poem, “United Fruit Company,” referencing the United Fruit Company , founded in 1899, that controlled many territories and transportation networks in Latin America. He

14030-424: Was nominated as a candidate for the Chilean presidency but ended up giving his support to Salvador Allende , who later won the election and was inaugurated in 1970 as Chile's first democratically elected socialist head of state. Shortly thereafter, Allende appointed Neruda the Chilean ambassador to France, lasting from 1970 to 1972; his final diplomatic posting. During his stint in Paris, Neruda helped to renegotiate

14152-450: Was not directly involved in the research on Neruda's remains, further noted it was too unlikely that the injection he was alleged to been given into belly gave him botulism, noting that it was also claimed he died a mere six hours it happened, which is not a feasible amount of time to trigger botulism. Debi Poinar also acknowledged to Deutsche Welle that while some C. botulinum was found in Neruda's bones, it had yet to be discerned whether it

14274-620: Was published in 1938 in Buenos Aires with the assistance of her longtime friend and correspondent Victoria Ocampo . The proceeds from the sale were dedicated to children orphaned by the Spanish Civil War . This volume contains poems that celebrate the customs and folklore of Latin America and Mediterranean Europe , reflecting Mistral's identification as "una mestiza de vasco ," acknowledging her European Basque-Indigenous Amerindian background. On 14 August 1943, Mistral's 17-year-old nephew, Juan Miguel Godoy, whom she considered as

14396-499: Was renowned as a correspondent and highly regarded orator, both in person and through radio broadcasts. Mistral may be most widely quoted in English for Su Nombre es Hoy ("His Name is Today"): We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood

14518-414: Was scheduled to fly to Mexico where he may have been planning to lead a government in exile that would denounce General Augusto Pinochet, who led the coup against Allende on September 11, according to his friends, researchers, and other political observers". The funeral took place amidst a massive police presence, and mourners took advantage of the occasion to protest against the new regime, established just

14640-458: Was suffering from prostate cancer when he died. In 2023, a team from McMaster University and the University of Copenhagen confirmed the presence of the Clostridium botulinum bacteria in Neruda's bloodstream, although it is not clear if this contributed to his death. McMaster researcher Debi Poinar noted that if Neruda had died of botulism , he would've suffered paralysis or septicemia,

14762-682: Was supported by a coalition of left-wing parties, and Neruda fervently campaigned on his behalf. However, once in office, González Videla turned against the Communist Party and enacted the Ley de Defensa Permanente de la Democracia (Law of Permanent Defense of the Democracy). The breaking point for Senator Neruda was the violent repression of a Communist-led miners' strike in Lota in October 1947 when striking workers were herded into island military prisons and

14884-535: Was waiting for the results of the last scientific tests conducted in May (2015), which found that Neruda was infected with the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium, which can be highly toxic and result in death if modified. A team of 16 international experts led by Spanish forensic specialist Aurelio Luna from the University of Murcia announced on 20 October 2017 that "from analysis of the data, we cannot accept that

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