The BA Celebrates the 100th Birthday of Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda
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On 12 July, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) marked the birth centenary of Chilean poet and literature Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda (1904-1973). The BA celebration was attended by Chilean ambassador to Cairo Samuel Fernandez Illanes, director of the Cervantes Institute in Alexandria, BA director, Ismail Serageldin, Prof Mahmoud Ali Mekki, former chair of the Department of Spanish Language and Literature at Cairo University, and a number of Chilean and Egyptian dignitaries and senior BA staff. The Chilean ambassador presented Serageldin with the Medalla de Honor Presidencial bestowed by the President of the Republic of Chile upon 99 world public figures in commemoration of the centenary of a literary giant whose influence on Spanish writing has been widely acclaimed.
Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto is the real name of Pablo Neruda, a pen name adopted by the poet in memory of Czechoslovak poet Jan Neruda. One of Neruda"s best-known and most translated works is the Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada published in 1924; another is the Canto General, consisting of approximately 250 poems, published in 1950 and translated shortly after into most world languages.