Don Pablo Neruda Patched

Pablo Neruda died on September 23, 1973. But the story is darker than the official record.

remains one of the most towering, prolific, and versatile literary figures of the 20th century. Born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto in Parral, Chile, in 1904, he adopted his famous pen name to hide his writing from his disapproving father. Over a career spanning five decades, Neruda evolved from a young, heartbroken romantic into a surrealist diplomat, a radical political exile, and ultimately, a Nobel Prize-winning national icon. don pablo neruda

He planned to flee into exile in Mexico, but hours before his flight, he was rushed to a clinic in Santiago. The official cause of death was heart failure and cancer. However, decades later, Neruda’s driver, Manuel Araya, claimed the poet was injected with poison. In 2011, Chilean judges ordered Neruda’s body exhumed. Forensic tests found evidence of a "large clostridial bacteria" (possibly lethal botulism) in his remains. Pablo Neruda died on September 23, 1973