| 1949 |
February
24th: he embarks on a fantastic escape to Argentina
crossing the mountains by horse and under a false identity:
Antonio Luis Lagorreta.
After a short passing by San Martín de los Andes and
Buenos Aires, carrying a passport given to him by his friend
Miguel Angel Asturias, diplomat representative of Guatemala
in Argentina, he embarks towards Europe from Uruguay.
Mid April: he arrives as incognito in Paris.
Under the protection of several friends, Picasso among them,
he amends his situation.
April 25th: he appears publicly at the closing
session of the First Peace Supporters World Congress and is
proclaimed member of the World Peace Council.
From Europe, he embarks on numerous journeys: Czechoslovakia,
the Soviet Union, Poland and Hungary.
August 16th: he travels to Prague, where the
British embassy denies him a transit visa for London, from where
he planned to continue to Mexico.
August: he leaves to Mexico from Paris together
with Delia Del Carril and Paul Eluard .
September 3rd through 10th: he takes part in
the Latin-American Peace Supporters Congress in Mexico.
Reencounter with Matilde Urrutia, whom he had met briefly in
Chile in 1946, when se was Blanca Hauser’s singing student.
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| 1950 |
April
3rd: Canto general is published in Mexico City. It is a special
edition of 500 copies, 300 of them by subscription, in big format,
Malinche paper signed by the author and David Alfaro Siqueiros
and Diego Rivera, whose paintings illustrates the back covers.
In Chile, the Communist Party releases a clandestine edition
of Canto general with engravings by José Venturelli.
The fact that tenths of people acted to make known this work
of strong political content was a whole publishing adventure.
April: he travels to Guatemala where he offers recitals and
lectures.
Julky 4th: in Santiago an Elections Qualifying Court proclaims
Radomiro Tomic as elected Senator in the place left by Neruda
after he “…absented from national territory, breaking
the 31st article in the State Political Constitution”.
He returns to Mexico and from there he travels to Hamburg on
board of the ship Argentina.
He visits Czechoslovakia once more and travel to Romania, Hungary
and the USSR. By the end of august, he goes to Paris.
October: he travels to Roma and New Delhi, where on behalf of
the World Peace Congress he has an interview wit Pandit Nehru,
the first chief of government in independent India.
Together with Picasso, Paul Robenson and other artists, he receives
the International Peace Award for his poem “Que despierte
el leñador”.
|
| 1951 |
His
European exile continues.
January: in absence of the poet, a tribute
sponsored by the Chilean Writers Society is held in Santiago
In February, he tours Italy together with Delia Del Carril.
He offers recitals in Milan, Florence and Turin.
March 28th: he travels to Moscow, where he
takes part in meetings with the jury of the Consolidation
of Peace among Peoples Stalin Prize. He travels around several
places in the Soviet Union.
In mid may he returns to Czechoslovakia and spends a short
season in the Dobris Castle and in Prague, where he offers
recitals.
June: he’s bound to Genoa. In July
he goes to Paris, where he meets Matilde Urrutia.
August: he travels to Berlin, GDR, with Delia
Del Carril to attend the Third Youth and Students World Festival.
He travels with Matilde to Constanta, a Romanian port in the
Black Sea.
He returns to Czechoslovakia. From there, Matilde Urrutia
goes back to Paris. He spends a brief season with Delia in
the Dobris Castle.
September / October: Delia and he take part
in the Peace World Congress delegation to deliver the Peace
International Prize to Mme.
Sun Yat Sen. He takes the Tran Siberian to Mongolia and Beijing.
End of November: he reencounters Matilde
in Geneva and both travel together to Lyon.
December 18th and 20th: he returns to Prague
and to the Soviet Union. Matilde goes back to Paris.
Throughout this period his romantic relationship with Matilde
gets stronger, becoming his adulthood’s great love.
|
| 1952 |
He visits Rome and Naples. He experiences residence problems
in Italy, but his situation gets normal later.
Delia Del Carril travels to Santiago de Chile to organize
the poet’s comeback.
January 2nd: he moves to Capri, where he
lives with Matilde Urrutia. The poet tells us: “…for
the first time we lived together in the same house. We could
no longer be apart. There, I ended writing a passionate and
painful love book, (…) Los versos del capitán”.
A committee of politicians and intellectuals is formed in
Chile to press for the poet’s coming back to the country.
The apprehension order against him is left without effect.
Neruda can return.
July 5th: he travels to Berlin.
July:
An anonymous, subscription only edition of Los versos del
capitán is published in Naples. During this time, he
also conceives and writes a long poetry book titled “Las
uvas y el viento”, where he portrays the recent history,
people and landscapes of many nations in Europe and Asia.
End of July: he travels to Cannes with Matilde
to embark on the Giulio Cesare towards America.
August: They disembark in Montevideo. Matilde
goes to Buenos Aires.
August 12th: he returns to Santiago and is greeted with a
big, impressive public event.
He lives with Delia Del Carril in his Lynch Avenue house,
but his relationship with Matilde Urrutia goes on.
He takes part in Salvador Allende’s first political
campaign.
|
| 1953 |
Construction
of the house christened as “La Chascona”, on San
Cristóbal hillside, begins.
He takes part in the organization of the Continental Culture
Congress, held in Santiago, April 26th through May 3rd. Great
American personalities attend this congress, Diego Rivera, Nicolás
Guillén and Jorge Amado among them.
April: release of the anthology Todo el amor,
Nascimento publishers.
July 13th: release of the anthology Poesía Política,
Austral publishers, Santiago de Chile.
August 13th through 28th: he travels around
the saltepeter refiners of Antofagasta’s Pampa.
October: Anonymous edition of Los versos del
Capitán, Losada publishers, Buenos Aires.
December 20th: it is announced that he’s
been given the Stalin Prize for Peace Consolidation among Peoples.
|
| 1954 |
|
January 16th: Ceremony at Caupolicán
Theatre to celebrate the Stalin Prize.
January 20th trough 28th: he gives five lectures
on his poetry at Universidad de Chile’s Summer School.
April 17th: he travels to Brazil. He takes
part in the First National Culture Congress organized by Jorge
Amado and held in the city of Goiania.
February 27th: Release of Las uvas y el viento,
Nascimento publishers, Santiago de Chile.
July 12th: he celebrates his 50th birthday.
Big homage events with guests from around the world are held.
July 14th: On the literary aspect he surprises
critics and readers once more with a new face of his poetry:
Odas Elementales, Losada publishers, Buenos Aires.
July 20th: he donates his valuable library
and sea shells collection to the Universidad de Chile.
Chilean government grants him a life time pension.
In mid December he travels with Delia Del Carril to Moscow,
Stockholm and Lisbon, returning to Chile by the end of the
month.
|
| 1955 |
February: Definitive break-up with Delia Del
Carril . He starts living with Matilde Urrutia.
March 24th: he is appointed as correspondent
member of the Poetry and language section at the Berlin Arts
Academy, GDR.
End of June: construction of “La Chascona”
is completed. He moves there with Matilde Urrutia, his new wife.
September: he founds and directs the Gaceta
de Chile magazine.
May: in Isla Negra, Alberto Mántaras
shoots the documentary “Oda al Mar” read by Neruda.
He travels to Europe with Matilde Urrutia.
Release of the definitive text of his prose book Viajes, Nascimento
publishers, Santiago de Chile.
|
| 1956 |
January: Nuevas Odas Elementales, Losada publishers,
Buenos Aires.
May: he goes back to politics.
October 23rd: he travels to Uruguay and spends
a season in Atlantida, on that country’s coast. He offers
some recitals in Montevideo too.
In mid November he travels to Brazil and in early December he
spends a brief season in Buenos Aires, where he offers two recitals.
He returns to Chile.
|
| 1957 |
January 30th: Fisrt realease of his Obras Completas,
Losada publishers, Buenos Aires.
April: he travels to Argentina and on April
11th he is taken prisoner in Buenos Aires in the house of Rodolfo
Aráoz Alfaro, Margarita Aguirre’s husband.
He leaves Buenos Aires without offering a scheduled recital
and goes to Uruguay.
He is chosen president of the Chilean Writers Society.
He offers recitals in Montevideo, travels to Brazil and spends
a season in the house of Jorge Amado and his wife Zelia Gatttai.
June: he offers recitals in Moscow.
July: he travels east. In Colombo, Ceylon,
he takes part in the Peace Suporters World Congress.
He goes to India and Burma together with Jorge Amado and Zelia
Gattai.
He goes later to China from the Kuo-Ming province. During this
trip he works on his books Navegaciones y Regresos and Estravagario.
He returns to Europe with Matilde. He embarks on brief trips
to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and East Germany.
September: he settles in Paris. He continues
working on Estravagario and Cien Sonetos de Amor.
October/November: trips to the Soviet Union,
Finland and Sweden.
Early December: In Gothenburg he goes aboard the Bolivar towards
America.
December: stay in Equator with visits to Quito
and Guayaquil.
December 18th: Tercer Libro de Odas, Losada
publishers, Buenos Aires.
Brief season in Lima.
|
|
1958 |
He gets actively involved in Salvador Allende’s second
presidential campaign.
August: abolition of the democracy defence
law, which means communists return to legality.
August 18th: Release of Estravagario, Losada
publishers, Buenos Aires.
Alberto Mántaras shoots the documentary “Largo
pétalo”. It is a trip of Neruda beginning in
the south of the country and ending in his “La Chascona”
house in Santiago.
November: he takes part in the 11th Congress
of the Chilean Communist Party and is elected member of this
political organisation’s Central Committee.
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