Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet, diplomat and politician who organised the 1939 Winnipeg voyage for Spanish Republican refugees and later received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Born Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, Neruda became one of the most prominent Spanish-language poets of the twentieth century. As Chile’s special consul for Spanish immigration, he helped select and transport refugees from France to Chile aboard the Winnipeg. He later served as senator, joined the Communist Party and supported Salvador Allende.

A Long Petal of the Sea places Neruda’s refugee project at the centre of Victor and Roser’s escape from Europe. He functions as a historical agent whose diplomatic intervention opens the Chilean portion of the novel.