The nurse-patient relationship blossomed into a lasting romance. His friends hired a Chilean singer named Matilda Urrutia to care for him. It was the trip to Mexico in 1949 that would change Neruda’s life forever.Ī disabling bout of phlebitis kept Neruda in Mexico for longer than he intended to stay. The couple traveled around South America and Europe for the next three years. Neruda’s loyal supporters smuggled him and his wife, the artist Delia Del Carril, from home to home. The poet’s outspoken nature brought about an order for his arrest. When Videla sent striking miners to military prisons and concentration camps, Neruda criticized his former friend in a senate speech titled “I Accuse.” After winning the election, Videla outlawed communism. Little did Neruda realize that that his friend was setting him up for betrayal. Neruda was a friend of 1946 Radical Party presidential candidate Gabriel González Videla, who asked him to act as his campaign manager. In 1945, the people of Chile elected Pablo Neruda, a communist, to the Senate. Isla Negra was one of the many one of the many houses belonging to Pablo Neruda, a romantic poet who writer Gabriel García Márquez referred to as “the greatest 20th century poet in any language.” His passion for politics equaled his capacity for love. My search brought me to a house along the Rambla in Atlantida. Author Ruth Kozak, in her article titled Visiting Pablo Neruda’s Houses, describes Isla Negra as “a house that resembles a ship.” Fascinated, I read the article, but still wondered if there was any connection between my Isla Negra and the Isla Negra in Chile. I searched google in order to learn more about the complex, but my research took a detour and brought me all the way to Chile. Instinct told me that the latter was exactly what I was looking for. One was a high rise near the beach, the other was a small, enchanting apartment complex called Isla Negra. Pablo, the son of the lead professor, sent me photos of two living locations. Since I was no longer interested in the nonstop action that characterizes the city life, I chose the enchanting coastal town of Atlantida. Spanish Uruguay has two locations– one in Montevideo and one in Atlantida. A google search delivered me to Spanish Uruguay, an organization that teaches Spanish and arranges temporary housing for students. There was one small problem: I did not speak a word of Spanish, and most Uruguayans do not speak English. ![]() In May of 2011, my husband and I decided that we were ready of the next chapter in our life’s adventure– we would move to Uruguay. ![]() Serendipity transported me to Pablo and Matilde’s romantic hideaway in Atlantida, Uruguay. It was here that he lived with his mistress, Matilde Urrutia. Uruguay holds a special place in Pablo Neruda’s heart. This folksy leader, a rebel from the same era as Neruda, would have welcomed the poet with open arms, and Neruda would surely return the embrace. Her own memoir, My Life with Pablo Neruda, ISBN 0-8047-5009-2, was published posthumously in 1986.Were he alive today, exiled Chilean rebel poet Pablo Neruda would have appreciated Uruguayan President Jose Mujica. This and other activities brought her into conflict with the government of Augusto Pinochet, which tried to suppress the memory of Neruda, an outspoken communist, from the collective consciousness. The painting also has a hidden image the profile view of Neruda's face is hidden in her hair, showing their continuous secret relationship.Īfter Neruda's death, Urrutia edited for publication his memoir, Confieso que he vivido ("I confess that I have lived"). What is remarkable about this painting is that one face depicts Urrutia as the singer the public knew, and the other depicts the lover Neruda knew. In his house, there is a painting given to Urrutia by Neruda depicting a two-faced Urrutia with her famously long, bright red hair. Neruda built a house in Santiago called " La Chascona", for Urrutia, which served as a secret love den for the two, as news that Neruda was having an affair would not have been received well by the Chilean public. ![]() Urrutia was the inspiration behind Neruda's later love poems beginning with Los Versos del Capitan in 1951, which the poet withheld publication until 1961 to spare the feelings of his previous wife as well as 100 Love Sonnets which includes a beautiful dedication to her. She was the first woman in Latin America to work as a pediatric therapist. They met in Santiago de Chile Santiago in 1946, when she was working as a physical therapist in Chile. Matilde Urrutia Cerda (30 April 1912 – 5 January 1985) was the third wife of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, from 1966 until he died in 1973.
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