Pablo Neruda

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Lore & Background

Pablo Neruda was born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto on 12 July 1904 in Parral, Chile. His mother died on 14 September two months after he was born, and he grew up in Temuco with a half-brother and a half-sister. He composed his first poems in the winter of 1914 and published his first work, an essay titled 'Entusiasmo y perseverancia,' at age 13 in the local daily La Mañana. By mid-1920 he had adopted the pseudonym Pablo Neruda, thought to be derived from the Czech poet Jan Neruda. His first volume of verse, Crepusculario, was published in 1923 by Editorial Nascimento, followed in 1924 by Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, which became his best-known work and remains the best-selling poetry book in the Spanish language. Neruda occupied many diplomatic positions, including honorary consulships in Rangoon, Colombo, Batavia, and Singapore, and later consulships in Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and Madrid. During the Spanish Civil War he became intensely politicized, moving away from privately focused work toward collective obligation and becoming an ardent Communist. He 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 a mountain pass near Maihue Lake into Argentina, not returning to Chile for more than three years. He was a close advisor to socialist president Salvador Allende and served as Chile's ambassador to France under Allende. In September 1973, Neruda was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After the coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet overthrew Allende's government and resulted in Allende's suicide, Neruda made plans to flee to Mexico in exile. On 23 September, the day before he was to leave, he died at the Santa María medical clinic in Santiago, where he had been receiving cancer treatment. While the official cause of death was listed as complications from prostate cancer, the cause and circumstances have been a subject of intense debate. Investigations in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2023 have produced conflicting findings; a 2023 toxicology report confirmed the presence of Clostridium botulinum in Neruda's teeth, indicating that he had in fact been poisoned. A court of appeals ruling reopened the official inquiry in February 2024.

Reader's Guide

Pablo Neruda's significance lies in his vast and varied literary output, his political engagement, and his enduring influence on poetry worldwide. His work ranges from erotic love poems to surrealist verse, historical epics, and political manifestos, reflecting his personal evolution and the turbulent times he lived through. The Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez called him 'the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language,' and critic Harold Bloom included him in The Western Canon. Neruda's legacy is also tied to his role as a diplomat and communist politician, including his service as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party and his close advisory relationship with President Salvador Allende. The controversy surrounding his death—with official findings of cancer complications challenged by forensic evidence of poisoning—has kept his story in public discourse. His works remain widely read and translated, and he is often regarded as Chile's national poet.

Did You Know?

• Neruda published his first work, an essay titled 'Entusiasmo y perseverancia,' at age 13 in the local daily La Mañana.
• Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924) remains the best-selling poetry book in the Spanish language nearly 100 years after publication.
• In 1949, Neruda escaped arrest by fleeing through a mountain pass near Maihue Lake into Argentina after communism was outlawed in Chile.
• A 2023 toxicology report confirmed the presence of Clostridium botulinum in Neruda's teeth, indicating he had been poisoned.
• Gabriel García Márquez called Neruda 'the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language.'