Pablo Neruda

Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician

Born: July 12, 1904 · Died: September 23, 1973

Famous Persons

Who was Pablo Neruda?

Pablo Neruda ( nə-ROO-də; Spanish: [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, 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.

Historical significance

Friends hid him for months, and in 1949 he escaped through 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; Neruda served as Chile's ambassador to France under his presidency.

Neruda recording his poetry at the U.S. Library of Congress in 1966

Sources and further reading

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Wikipedia source

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MLA

“Pablo Neruda.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/pablo-neruda/. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

APA

Pablo Neruda. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/pablo-neruda/

Chicago

“Pablo Neruda.” thisDay. Accessed November 2, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/pablo-neruda/.

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