Isabel Allende

She met and married her first husband, Miguel Frias, in Chile in 1962. The couple had two children, Paula and Nicolas.

When Pinochet came to power in Chile in 1973, she received threats and had to flee the country. That was when she moved to Venezuela.

She met and married her second husband, Willie Gordon, while visiting the United States in 1988. She eventually moved to the U.S., and currently lives in California, near her son and grandchildren.

Isabel Allende's was born Isabel Allende Llona, on 2nd August, 1942. Her father Tomas worked at the embassy in Chile and was the first cousin of Chilean president Salvador Allende. Salvador was president of Chile for three years.

Allende was one of three children. She and her mother and siblings moved from Peru to Santiago, Chile in 1945, when Allende was a little girl.

In the 1950s, Allende's mother remarried. Her stepfather, Ramon Huidobro, became the Chilean ambassador to Argentina when she was a teenager. Because of her stepfather's diplomatic career, her family moved often. Her education included private schooling and homeschooling.

She began her career as a journalist. She was a co-founding editor of the women's magazine 'Paula.' From 1969-1973, she was an editor for a children's magazine. Around this time, she also authored two children's stories.

She began a decade of work in television journalism during the 1960s and eventually became a television host. While working in television, she interviewed famous poet Pablo Neruda.

Her first published book was a compilation of her journalistic articles. She also scripted the screenplay for, ‘El Embajador', produced in 1973.

After the government coup in Chile, she moved to Venezuela. She worked as a journalist and an administrator in a school there.

A letter to her ailing, elderly grandfather became the manuscript of her first novel. 'The House of Spirits' was published in 1982.

The novel 'Eva Luna', published in 1987, draws on her experiences both in Chile and Venezuela. The story-telling protagonist lives in an anonymous South American country; some of tales appear in a later published collection of short stories called 'The Stories of Eva Luna'.