The 115th anniversary of the birth of one of the outstanding poets of the 20th century, the Nobel Prize in Literature Pablo Neruda, has passed almost imperceptibly. But once his books were published in the USSR in very solid editions, many Soviet poets translated and dedicated poems to him, streets in cities of our country were named after him. The famous rock opera "The Star and Death of Joaquin Murieta" is based on his works. In addition to the fact that he was a Nobel laureate, he was also awarded the Stalin Prize "For Strengthening Peace Among Nations".
In addition, Neruda is known not only as a poet, but also as a diplomat and politician. He even had chances to become president of Chile, but at that time he withdrew his candidacy in favor of Salvador Allende.
However, Pablo Neruda is a pseudonym (which later became the official name). The real name of the classic is Ricardo Neftali Reyes Basoalto.
The beginning of the creative path
He was born on July 12, 1904 in the small Chilean town of Parral in the family of a railroad employee and a school teacher. Lost his mother early. His father married a second time, and after that the family moved to the south of the country, to the city of Temuco.
The future poet began to write poetry at the age of 10. And when he was 12 years old, he met with the poet Gabriela Mistral - she actually gave him the path to literary life. He was forced to take a pseudonym because of disagreements with his father, who did not want his son to engage in literary activity.
In 1921, Neruda entered the Faculty of French at the Pedagogical Institute of Santiago. But then his successes in literature became so impetuous that he decided to devote his life to her. In 1923, the first collection of the poet "Collection of Sunsets" was published, then there were several more. His poems were widely known not only in Chile, but throughout Latin America.
In the diplomatic service
And in 1927, Neruda's diplomatic career began - he was sent to Burma as a consul. Then he worked in Ceylon, Singapore, in the Dutch East Indies, and at the same time wrote poetry. He met his future first wife Marika Antonieta Hagenaar Vogelsang, a Dutch woman who lived in Bali. (In total, the poet was married three times.)
After a short return to his homeland, Neruda was sent to the diplomatic service in Buenos Aires. There he met the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. Thanks to this meeting, Spain became especially close to the Chilean poet. He took very hard the civil war in this country, which began on July 18, 1936, and the brutal murder of Lorca. While in Madrid, he wrote the book "Spain in the Heart". One of the poems read:
Madrid lonely and proud
July attacked your fun
poor hive, to your bright streets
to your bright dream.
Black hiccups of the military
surf of furious cassocks, dirty waters
hit your knees.
Wounded, still full of sleep, hunting rifles, stones
you defended yourself
you ran
dropping blood like a trace from a ship, with the roar of the surf, with a face forever changed
from the color of blood, like a star of whistling knives.
(Translated by I. Ehrenburg.)
For his position, Neruda suffered - he said that his country supports the Republicans in Spain. But the Chilean authorities distanced themselves from this position and withdrew it. However, the poet was able to provide assistance to the Republican refugees while in France, helping them to emigrate to Chile.
In 1939 he was sent to Mexico - first as an embassy secretary, and then he became consul general. While there, Neruda closely followed what was happening in the arena of World War II. Was inspired by the struggle of the Soviet Union. He was especially struck by the heroism of the defenders of Stalingrad. In 1942, he wrote A Love Song for Stalingrad, in which he drew parallels with the events in Spain. And the next year, the "Second Song of Love to Stalingrad" was created:
Your gaze is still as clear as the sky.
The firmament of your bulk is unshakable, mixed with an eighth of bread.
About the edge of the bayonet, the border
Stalingrad!
Your homeland is a laurel and a hammer.
The gaze of the leader burns over the cannonade, and the fierce enemy freezes into the bitter cold
and into the blood-soaked snow
Stalingrad.
(Translated by S. A. Goncharenko.)
After the war, the "Third Love Song for Stalingrad" (1949) was also born, in which the poet rejoiced at how peaceful life was being restored in the city destroyed by the war.
Political life
In March 1945, the poet and diplomat became a Senator of the Republic of Chile. In the same year he joined the Communist Party, and at the same time received the National Prize for Literature.
Neruda then comes into open conflict with then-President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla. It must be said that in his election campaign this man used leftist rhetoric, climbed into power on the shoulders of the communists, and even brought them into the government for a while. However, then Videla reneged on his promises in the social sphere, expelled the left from the government and began to persecute them. Neruda, who personally took an active part in supporting the president, attacked him with sharp criticism and called him a US puppet. For this he was deprived of his deputy mandate and expelled from the country. The poet spent several months in an illegal position, after which in 1949 he went first to Argentina, and from there to France. While in exile, he created the poem "General Song", which was banned in his homeland. He visited the Soviet Union several times.
In 1953, Neruda returned to Chile due to the fact that the authorities made some indulgences for the left. There he actively continued his literary and social activities. He welcomed the revolution in Cuba with enthusiasm, dedicating the "Heroic Song" to this event.
In 1969, the Communist Party nominated Pablo Neruda as a candidate for the presidency. However, he spoke in support of another politician - the candidate from the People's Unity bloc Salvador Allende, who won in 1970. And Neruda was then appointed ambassador to France.
In 1971, the poet was awarded the Nobel Prize, and in 1972 he returned to Chile. Unfortunately, then he was already sick (suffered from cancer).
Tragedy
As you know, on September 11, 1973, a military coup took place in Chile, during which the legitimate President Allende did not want to compromise with the enemies and died in the La Moneda palace.
A few days after that, Pablo Nerude also remained. He managed to finish the last pages of his book of memoirs "I confess: I lived." And they were dedicated to Allende:
Everywhere I have been, in the most distant countries, people spoke with admiration about President Allende, about the pluralism and democracy of our government. In its entire history, the United Nations building has not heard such a standing ovation as the Chilean president was given by representatives of countries around the world. Indeed, in Chile, in spite of enormous difficulties, a truly just society was built, the basis of which was our sovereignty, a sense of national dignity, and the heroism of our best sons.
On the evening of September 23, 1973, Neruda's heart stopped beating. Officially, he died of an illness that intensified due to deep feelings about the tragic events in the country. However, there is another version - the poet was killed. The man who spent his last days with Neruda, driver, security guard and assistant Manuel Araya Osorio, in one of his interviews told about what happened in the poet's house after the coup.
According to him, the next day, September 12, representatives of the Pinochet junta came to Neruda's house. They behaved like masters, deciding who lived in the house and who did not. After that, they came several more times - looking for weapons and people who allegedly took refuge in a dwelling. Then the relatives of Neruda decided to hide him in the hospital (at the same time, according to the driver, the poet felt quite tolerable). It was about sending him to Mexico. But in the hospital Neruda was given an injection, after which he felt very bad and soon died.
In 2013, the body of the poet was exhumed. No traces of the murder were found. But in any case, directly or indirectly, the Pinochet regime is guilty of the death of Neruda - if only because the last days of his life were poisoned by invasion, searches, and moral pressure. The "black hiccup of the military", about which the poet wrote in Spain, found him in his homeland, in his own home.
“But it’s bitter to groan: Allende, but it’s scary to exhale: Neruda,” the Soviet poet Yevgeny Dolmatovsky responded to this event. But then the singer Viktor Khara was also killed, his fingers were broken before his death!
It remains only to add that all the modest attempts to condemn Pinochet were unsuccessful. Quite another can be seen when “world democracy” really wants to delete one or another political figure from the list of living ones. In fact, no one wanted to judge the junta, which came to power with the support of the CIA, even for the destruction of tens of thousands of people, including the Nobel laureate.
