Gabriel García Márquez

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Published in 1967, over 50 million copies sold: written in 18 months of seclusion.

💡 Did you know? „One Hundred Years of Solitude“ sold over 50 million copies and is regarded as the most important Spanish-language work since „Don Quixote“.

Macondo

Founded by José Arcadio Buendía: modelled on Gabo's home town of Aracataca.

💡 Did you know? The invented village of Macondo, where miracles happen as a matter of course, became a symbol of all Latin America.

magical realism

The marvellous, told as the most natural thing in the world: learned from his grandmother's storytelling tone.

💡 Did you know? In „magical realism“ the miraculous mingles matter-of-factly with everyday life; a person ascends to heaven while the washing is hung out.

the Nobel Prize in Literature

He appeared at the ceremony not in tails but in the white Caribbean liqui-liqui.

💡 Did you know? In 1982 García Márquez received the Nobel Prize in Literature: he attended in the white linen suit of his Caribbean homeland rather than tails.

Love in the Time of Cholera

Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza: inspired by his parents' courtship.

💡 Did you know? „Love in the Time of Cholera“ tells of a man who waits over 50 years for his youthful love: inspired by his own parents' marriage.

Gabo

From his first name Gabriel: half of Latin America spoke of him like a family member.

💡 Did you know? Throughout Latin America he is fondly known as „Gabo“: few writers have been so revered across a continent.

Aracataca

Raised by his grandparents: the colonel and the ghost-believing grandmother shaped his storytelling.

💡 Did you know? His home town of Aracataca, with his grandparents' storytelling, was the real model for Macondo.

journalist

'The best job in the world,' he said: reportages like 'The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor' became classics themselves.

💡 Did you know? García Márquez remained a passionate journalist all his life: he called journalism „the best job in the world“.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Everyone knows Santiago Nasar is to die and no one prevents it; based on a real case.

💡 Did you know? In „Chronicle of a Death Foretold“ the murder is already in the title: the tension arises solely from why no one prevents it.

Fidel Castro

His closeness to the Cuban regime earned him harsh criticism: the USA denied him a visa for years.

💡 Did you know? His close friendship with Fidel Castro drew García Márquez much criticism: he defended it as a personal, not political, bond.

the postage ran out

For the rest they pawned the heater and the mixer: the publisher accidentally received the second half first.

💡 Did you know? Eighteen months of writing seclusion had plunged the family deep into debt.

three days of national mourning

He died in Mexico City: yellow paper butterflies rained from the galleries at the memorial.

💡 Did you know? At his death in 2014, Colombia declared three days of national mourning: „Gabo“ had become a national hero.

Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez was a Colombian writer and Nobel laureate whose „One Hundred Years of Solitude“ made magical realism world-famous.

💡 Did you know? Throughout Latin America he is fondly revered as „Gabo“.