Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean writer and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Neruda assumed his pen name as a teenager, partly because it was in vogue, partly to hide his poetry from his father, a rigid man who wanted his son to have a "practical" occupation. Neruda's pen name was derived from Czech writer and poet Jan Neruda; Pablo is thought to be from Paul Verlaine. With his works translated into many languages, Pablo Neruda is considered one of the greatest and most influential poets of the 20th century. Neruda was accomplished in a variety of styles, ranging from erotically charged love poems like his collection Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair, surrealist poems, historical epics, and overtly political manifestos. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature, a controversial award because of his political activism. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez once called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language." On July 15, 1945, at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, he read to 100,000 people in honor of Communist revolutionary leader Luís Carlos Prestes. When Neruda returned to Chile after his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Salvador Allende invited him to read at the Estadio Nacional before 70,000 people. During his lifetime, Neruda occupied many diplomatic posts and served a stint as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party. When Conservative Chilean President González Videla outlawed communism in Chile, a warrant was issued for Neruda's arrest. Friends hid him for months in a house basement in the Chilean port of Valparaíso. Later, Neruda escaped into exile through a mountain pass near Maihue Lake into Argentina. Years later, Neruda was a close collaborator to socialist President Salvador Allende. Neruda was hospitalized with cancer at the time of the Chilean coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet. Three days after being hospitalized, Neruda died of heart failure. Already a legend in life, Neruda's death reverberated around the world. Pinochet had denied permission to transform Neruda's funeral into a public event. However, thousands of grieving Chileans disobeyed the curfew and crowded the streets to pay their respects. Neruda's funeral became the first public protest against the Chilean military dictatorship.

Notable Chilean folklorist and visual artist. Sister of Nicanor Parra Biografía Los primeros años Violeta Parra nació el 4 de octubre de 1917 en San Fabián de Alico, al interior de San Carlos, en una humilde casa. Hija de Nicanor Parra Parra y Clarisa Sandoval Navarrete, junto con sus cinco hermanos y dos medio hermanos. Existe controversia sobre su lugar de nacimiento, probablemente basada en que San Fabián pertenecía antiguamente al Departamento de San Carlos y en general a que las subdivisiones políticas y administrativas de los lugares geográficos en la zona han sufrido repetidos cambios. La Municipalidad de San Carlos afirma por una parte ser «la cuna de Violeta Parra», como se puede ver en un cartel a la entrada de la ciudad y en el sitio oficial de la municipalidad.2 En San Carlos existe una casa ubicada en la Calle El Roble N°535-531 que fue declarada monumento histórico en 1992.3 La familia de Violeta Parra, en cambio, no concuerda con este dato. En el sitio oficial de la Fundación Violeta Parra se afirma que la folclorista nació en San Fabián de Alico, localidad ubicada al interior de San Carlos.1 Su madre se afanaba sobre la máquina de coser para cooperar a la mantención de la numerosa familia. Violeta sufría continuamente de enfermedades, incluyendo un ataque de viruela a los tres años. Cuando mejoraba, se divertía junto a sus hermanos en las aguas del vecino río Ñuble y en los aserraderos y barracas del sector. Hacia 1927, la familia viaja a Chillán. Durante el gobierno de Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, cientos de empleados fiscales fueron exonerados, y la madre de Violeta hizo lo imposible para mantener el hogar a flote cosiendo infatigablemente, lavando, vendiendo y comprando lo necesario. Los niños revelaron precozmente su inclinación al espectáculo. Imitaban a los artistas de los circos que se instalaban en las proximidades del hogar. Se disfrazaban con atuendos de papel; Violeta y su hermano Lalo, cantaban a dúo y montaron varias representaciones por la que cobraban entradas a los niños. Violeta empezó a tocar la guitarra a los 9 años, mientras que a los 12 compuso sus primeras canciones. Realizó los cursos primarios y estuvo un año en la escuela normal, pero abandonó los estudios y tuvo que trabajar en el campo para ayudar a su familia, ya que su padre enfermó gravemente. Los hijos de la familia lucharon por sobrevivir saliendo a cantar en restaurantes, posadas, circos, trenes, campos, pueblos, calles e incluso en burdeles. Llegada a Santiago Los problemas económicos se agravaron en gran parte, cuando el padre de familia falleció en 1931. Violeta se fue a vivir a Santiago a los 15 años, invitada por su hermano Nicanor, que estaba estudiando allí. Retomó los estudios en la Escuela Normal de Niñas, donde no se sintió a gusto, porque es el canto y no la escuela lo que le interesaba. Por ello, la abandonó y se presentó en bares, quintas de recreo y pequeñas salas de barrio junto con su hermana Hilda, en un dúo de música folclórica llamado Las Hermanas Parra. Hicieron de este trabajo una fuente de ingresos.4 En 1935, su madre y sus hermanos llegaron a Santiago y se instalaron en la comuna de Quinta Normal. Se casó con el empleado ferroviario Luis Cereceda en 1938, y con él tuvo dos hijos, que también se convirtieron en importantes músicos: Ángel e Isabel, que llegaron al ambiente artístico utilizando el apellido materno. El matrimonio, que vivió temporalmente en Valparaíso, no tardó en presentar inconvenientes, dado el carácter inquieto y lleno de distracciones de Violeta (que cantaba en botes del puerto, se presentaba en radios y se había unido a un grupo de teatro), que no se acomodaban al ideal convencional de esposa casera de Luis Cereceda. Se separaron en 1948. En 1949 nace su hija Carmen Luisa Arce Parra. En ese mismo año contrae matrimonio con Luis Arce

Gonzalo Rojas Pizarro (December 20, 1917 – April 25, 2011) was a Chilean poet. His work is part of the continuing Latin American avant-garde literary tradition of the twentieth century. Biography He was the seventh son of a coal miner, born in the port town of Lebu, Chile.[1] Later on, during his youth he was the editor of the magazine Antarctica in Santiago de Chile and University lecturer in Valparaiso. Between 1938-1941 he played a part in the surrealist group Mandrágora founded by Braulio Arenas, Teófilo Cid and Enrique Gómez Correa. Seven years later in 1948 his first book of poems was published in Santiago. After the 1973 Chilean coup d'état he was forced to go into exile, an “undocumented person”. He was stripped of his diplomatic position and was also banned from teaching at any Chilean university. The University of Rostock in East Germany provided him with a placement. He taught at universities in Germany, the United States, Spain, and Mexico. Thanks to a Guggenheim Fellowship, Gonzalo Rojas went back to Chile in 1979, to Chillán, 400 kilometers to the south of the capital, to live permanently, yet was still unable to teach at a university there. Subsequently, he lived in the United States between 1980 and 1994. From 1980 to 1985, Gonzalo was a visiting professor at Columbia University and the University of Chicago, then from 1985 to 1994, he held the title of professor at Brigham Young University. He was awarded the Chilean National Prize for Literature and the Queen Sofia Prize of Iberian American Poetry (by the King of Spain), both in 1992. He also received the Octavio Paz prize of Mexico, and the José Hernández prize of Argentina. He was awarded the Cervantes Prize for 2003 the 23 of April 2004. On the morning of April 25, 2011, Rojas died as a consequence of a stroke he suffered earlier in February. The government declared two days of official mourning. He was buried in Chillan, Chile.[1] He was considered one of the greatest modern poets in Chile, together with Nicanor Parra. His poetry has been translated into English, German, French, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Romanian, Swedish, Chinese, Turkish, and Greek.