Pablo Neruda

Born Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, he took the pen name Pablo Neruda for his literary works, which were translated into dozens of different languages around the world. Born in Chile, the communist poet has been called the most read poet since Shakespeare, and Gabriel Marquez (see entry below) titled him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language".
His works covered a wide array of styles, touching on almost every subject in his career. He also read his work to the two largest crowds of any recorded poet in history (100,000 and 70,000).
He served as a senator for the Chilean Communist Party, but a warrant was issued for his arrest when Communism was outlawed a short while after. Escaping into Argentina, he lived there until he was able to return to Chile when then Socialist party weakened. Nominated for the Chilean Presidency shortly thereafter, he withdrew and gave his support to future president Salvadore Allende.
Ricardo Basoalto won the Nobel Prize in 1970, but died a few years later due to Heart Failure.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_neruda#Return_to_Chile_2
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