Gabriel Marquez | Success Story of the Incredible Colombian Writer

Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a Colombian novelist, screenwriter, journalist, and short-story writer. He was born on 6 March 1927 in Aracataca, Colombia. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century, particularly in the Spanish language, the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature were awarded to him. Gabriel Marquez has written many famous non-fiction novels like One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Chronicle Of A Death Foretold, and Love In The Time Of Cholera. Gabriel passed away in April 2014, and Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, called him “the greatest Colombian who ever lived.”

Early Life

Gabriel Marquez was born on 6 March 1927 in Aracataca, Colombia. He was the son of Gabriel Eligio García and Luisa Santiaga Márquez Iguarán. Shortly after his birth, Gabriel’s father became a pharmacist and moved to Barranquilla with his wife, leaving their young son behind. His maternal grandparents raised him.

In December 1936, Gabriel’s father took him and his brother Since to Barranquilla. Since Gabriel Márquez’s parents were strangers to him more or less for the first few years of his life, so his grandparents influenced his early development very strongly.

Gabriel’s grandmother had a strong hand in his upbringing. He was fascinated by how she “treated the extraordinary as something perfectly natural.” She told him many stories about ghosts, omens, and portents.

One Hundred Years Of Solitude

Ever since Gabriel Marquez was 18, he wanted to write a novel on the base of his grandparent’s house. Writing the book took him more than he expected; he wrote every day for 18 months.

In 1967, the book came out and became Gabriel’s most successful commercial hit. One Hundred Years Of Solitude sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The story chronicles several generations of the Buendía family from the time they founded the fictional South. American village of Macondo through their trials and tribulations, instances of incest, births, and deaths.

The novel was such a big hit that it got Gabriel Marquez a Nobel Prize as well as the Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 1972.

Fame

After writing One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Marquez moved to Barcelona, Spain, with his family. They lived there for seven years. 

The popularity of his writing also led to friendships with influential leaders, including one with former Cuban president Fidel Castro. It has been written about in Gabo and Fidel: Portrait of a Friendship. Also, Mario Vargas Llosa punched Gabriel Marquez in the face. It became a famous feud in the history of literature.

Gabriel was new to fame and was open about his views on US imperialism. Because of this, for many years, he was denied a visa to the United States. After Bill Clinton was elected US president, he lifted the travel ban and cited One Hundred Years of Solitude as his favorite novel.

Death

Gabriel Marquez passed away on 17 April 2014 at the age of 87. The Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos mentioned: “One Hundred Years of Solitude and sadness for the death of the greatest Colombian of all time.” The former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe Vélez said: “Master García Márquez, thanks forever, millions of people on the planet fell in love with our nation fascinated with your lines.”

Gabriel had a wife and two sons at the time of his death. His cremation took place in a private ceremony in Mexico City. A funeral cortege containing Gabriel Marquez’s ashes was taken to the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Where the memorial ceremony took place.

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