Pablo Neruda Timeline

  • Birth

    July 12 1904 was when Pablo Neruda was born. He was born in Parral, Chile. That was a city in Linares Province in the Maule Region. His parents were José del Carmen Reyes Morales and Rosa Basoalto she died 1 month after he was born.
  • Publishing first books

    At the age of 13 on July 18 1917 he published his first work. An essay called Enthusiasm and Perseverance. In 1918 he published a book called My Eyes.
  • Twenty Love Poems - best book

    In 1921 he published “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair.” The book sold millions of copies over the years and is now his best known work. Even though it did not go to a second edition until 1932.
  • Daughter

    Pablo had a daughter named Malva Maris Trinidad who was born with health problems in 1934. During this period Pablo slowly developed a relationship with Delia Del Carril. Him and his wife eventually divorced and he lived with Delia Del Carril. He married del Carril and learned that his daughter malva had died at the age of 8.
  • moving back to Chile

    In 1943 he moved back to Chile and made a tour of peru. The tour inspired Pablo to write Alturas de Macchu Picchu. A book length poem with 12 parts that he completed in 1945.
  • Communist Senator

    On March 4th 1945 he was elected to be a Communist Senator. He was a Communist Senator for the provinces of Antofagasta and Tarapaca in the Atacama Desert. He was officially joined in the Communist Party of Chile four months later.
  • Campaign Manager

    In 1946 the Radical Party presidential candidate, Gabriel Gonzalez Videla, asked Pablo to act as his campaign manager. Gonzalez Videla was supported by a coalition of left wing parties.
  • Striking Workers

    In October 1947 striking workers were herded into island military prisons and a concentration camp. That inspired a dramatic speech in 1948 which became known as “I accuse”.
  • Threatened with arrest

    A few weeks later in 1948 after the speech he was threatened with arrest. He went into hiding and he and his wife were smuggled from house to house by supporters and admirers for the next 13 months. While in hiding he was removed from office. He went from Valdivia in southern Chile to Fundo Huishu in Huishu Lake. Once out of Chile he was in exile for 3 years.
  • supporting campign

    In 1952 the Gonzalez-VIdela Government were on its last legs. The Chilean socialist party was in the process of nominating Salvador Allende as a candidate in presidential elections and was keen to have Pablo to support the campaign. Pablo returned to Chile in august of that year.
  • Chilean Presidency Candidate

    In 1970 Pablo was nominated as a candidate for Chilean Presidency. He later gave up to support Salvador Allende. Salvador Allende eventually won the election in 1970 as the first democratically elected socialist head of state.
  • Nobel Prize

    In 1971 Pablo had won a Nobel Prize. The decision was not easy because some people forgot about his past as a Stalinist dictatorship. His swedish translator tried his hardest to ensure that Pablo win the prize.
  • Death

    Neruda died of heart failure on the evening of September 23 1973 at the age of 69. He died at Santiago’s Santa Maria Clinic. The funeral took place amidst a massive police presence. Mourners took this occasion to protest against the new regimen established a couple weeks before Pablo’s death. His house was broken into and his papers and books stolen or destroyed.