Catalogue Number
NMLH.1992.409.12.46
Object Name
Poster
Title
Neruda / A Tribute to Neruda on the 75th Anniversary of His Birth
People
Susan Fleetwood; Morag Hood; Gawn Grainger; Joe Melia; Harold Pinter; Pablo Neruda; Matilde Urrutia de Neruda; Bill Bryden; Sebastian Graham Jones
Date
1979
Description
Poster, advertising an evening event in tribute to 'Neruda' on the 75th Anniversary of his birth.
The poster is advertising a show in tribute to Pablor Neruda, who was a Chilean poet and diplomat. He died in 1973, after being hospitalised with cancer during the Chilean coup. His death was officially recorded as being of heart failure, but there is uncertainty over whether he was murdered on the orders of Pinochet or died naturally. Neruda is considered the national poet of Chile. He had become a Communist when witnessing the Spanish Civil War as a diplomat in Madrid.
Those starring in the show included Susan Fleetwood, Morag Hood, Gawn Grainger, Joe Melia and Harold Pinter. The show also featured Matilde Urrutia de Neruda, Pablor Neruda's third wife. Following Neruda's death in 1973, the Pinoche government tried to suppress the memory of the left-wing poet. Matilde Naruda's work to publish his memoir, along with other political activities, led to her endangerment from the Pinochet government.