Born Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto in the town of Parral in Southern Chile on 12th July 1904, Pablo Neruda led a life charged with poetic and political activity. Neruda was the most important Latin American poet of the 20th century. He won Nobel Prize in Literature in the year 1971.
His mother Rosa Basoalto died within two month of Neruda’s birth. His father always discouraged him from writing. This became the main reason why the young poet began to publish under the pseudonym Pablo Neruda.
In 1923, he sold all of his possessions to finance the publication of his first book, ‘Book of Twilight’. When he was just 20-years-old, his poetry collection ‘Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair’ made him a household name in Latin America.
In 1927, Neruda began his long career as a diplomat in the Latin American tradition of honouring poets with diplomatic assignments. He served as Ambassador to France.
He died on 23rd September 1973.
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