2012 Isabel travels to Miami in March to receive the Lawrence Sanders Award in Fiction from the Florida International University English Department’s Creative Writing program.
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The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., celebrates its 25th Anniversary Gala in April, presenting Isabel with an award for Excellence in the Arts. In Odense, Denmark, Isabel receives the Hans Christian Andresen Literary Award and a kiss from her favorite prince, HRH Crown Prince Frederik.
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Isabel honors 2012 Espíritu Award winners The Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood on October 22 in NYC. Two days later, she presents an award to Michelle Bachelet, executive director of UN Women, at the Center for Reproductive Rights’ inaugural gala. California’s San Jose State University and the city of San Jose proclaim November 27 Isabel Allende Day. |
2011 Isabel begins a yearlong sabbatical in January. Nobody quite believes it. Isabel receives the City of Alcalá Arts and Letters award (Spain). Maya’s Notebook published in Spanish.
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2010 Isabel participates in Chile Helps Chile , a 24-hour television fundraiser to aid earthquake victims. The March telethon results in nearly $60 million in donations, double the expected amount. My Invented Isabel blog launched; authored by "Sarah," shameless family spy. |
Isabel speaks at the National Book Fair, held September 25 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Isabel travels to Camp Hope in Chile’s Atacama Desert on September 19 to speak via telephone to the 33 miners trapped underground following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the nation August 5. Accompanying her are President Sebastian Pinera and Senator Isabel Allende, her cousin and the daughter of Salvador Allende. Chile awards Isabel the National Prize for Literature (El Premio Nacional de Literatura), the nation’s most prestigious literary award, on September 2. |
Doña Panchita celebrates her 90th birthday. A Member of the Board of Trustees (Patronato), Isabel attends the annual meeting in Madrid of the Cervantes Institute. Also in attendance for the October 13 event are King Juan Carlos I (a fellow board member) and Queen Sofia. |
2009 Isabel meets with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet at the Chilean Embassy in Washington, D.C., on June 22. The Times (London) names The House of the Spirits one of the Best 60 Books of the Past 60 Years. Isabel a keynote speaker at the annual Women & Power Conference at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. |
Isabel named a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Cervantes Institute, a Spanish governmental organization that promotes Spanish language and culture throughout the world. On behalf of the nonprofit organization Free The Slaves, Isabel presents a Fredrick Douglass Freedom Award to Veero, an illiterate Pakistani woman who escaped debt-bondage slavery and later staged a sit-in at a police station to demand that authorities take action to free others. Ceremony held in Los Angeles on October 13. |
2008 Isabel receives an honorary doctorate from San Francisco State University; degree delivered by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. |
2007 The Sum of Our Days published in Spanish. Isabel invited to speak at the TED conference; her topic is women and passion. Isabel receives the Hubert Howe Bancroft Award from The Bancroft Library of the University of California at Berkeley.
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2006 Inés of My Soul published in Spanish. The book is launched in Plasencia, the birthplace of the novel's heroine. Despite the fact that she has never participated in sports (much less shown any athletic ability), Isabel is one of eight Olympic flag bearers—all women—at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Isabel represents Latin America. |
2005 Forest of the Pygmies, the third and final installment in Isabel’s young adult trilogy, published. Zorro published in Spanish.
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2004 Kingdom of the Golden Dragon published in English; publication coincides with the city of Seattle’s choice of Isabel as the featured author of the year. Isabel named Ambassador to Hans Christian Andersen’s Bicentenary at Rosenberg Castle in Copenhagen. HRH Crown Prince Frederik and Lars Seeberg, Secretary General of the Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Foundation, present the award. The House of the Spirits chosen by German readers as 13th among the nation’s Top 100 Books. Paula ranked 80th. Isabel inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. |
2003 My Invented Country published; the book is covered extensively by the press, including being featured on Bill Moyers’ show NOW. Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, the second installment in the young adult trilogy, published in Spanish. Isabel becomes an American citizen.
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2000 Portrait in Sepia published in Spain and other European countries, where it attracts considerable acclaim. Isabel appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss Daughter of Fortune with the famous American talk show host. |
1999 Daughter of Fortune published in Spanish; the book is translated into English later in the year. Isabel’s son Nicolás marries Lori Barra in January.
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1998 Isabel receives the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, an annual arts award given to “a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.” |
1996 Isabel launches The Isabel Allende Foundation in December in honor of Paula. The Foundation is “dedicated to supporting programs that promote and preserve the fundamental rights of women and children to be empowered and protected." |
1994 Paula published in Spanish, German, and Dutch. Of Love and Shadows made into a movie; Antonio Banderas stars.
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1993 The Infinite Plan published in English. The House of the Spirits staged in London in August. A movie based on the novel—starring Winona Ryder, Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, and Antonio Banderas—premieres in Munich in October. |
1992 Paula dies on December 6 in Isabel and Willie's home in San Rafael, California.
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1991 The Infinite Plan published in Spanish. Paula, who lives in Madrid, suffers a porphyria attack and falls into coma. |
1990 Democracy reinstated in Chile and Patricio Aylwin elected president. After a 15-year absence, Isabel returns to receive the Gabriela Mistral Inter-American Prize for Culture, given in honor of the Chilean Nobel laureate, poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist. |
1982 The House of the Spirits published in Spanish. 1984 Of Love and Shadows published in Spanish. 1985 The House of the Spirits published in English. |
1981 When she receives the news that her 99-year-old grandfather is dying, Isabel begins a letter to him that ultimately becomes the manuscript for The House of the Spirits.
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1978 Temporary separation from Miguel Frías. Isabel moves to Spain for two months before returning to her marriage. 1979-82 Isabel works as administrator for Colegio Marroco, a secondary school in Caracas. |
1975 Blacklisted by the government, Isabel emigrates to Venezuela with her husband and children, where they remain for the next 13 years. She contributes to El Nacional, an influential newspaper in Caracas.
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1973 General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte stages a coup on September 11. Salvador Allende dies during the coup. Although many Chileans believe he was assassinated, Pinochet’s military government claims Allende committed suicide.
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1973-74 Isabel contributes to the children’s magazine Mampato; she eventually becomes editor-in-chief. She also publishes two children’s stories, La abuela Panchita and Lauchas y lauchones, as well as a collection of humorous articles entitled Civilice a su troglodita. |
1972 Isabel’s play, El embajador, performed in Santiago. |
1970-75 Isabel begins her television career, hosting a popular humor program and conducting interviews. Her programs enjoy great popularity. |
1970 Salvador Allende elected first socialist president of Chile. Ramón Huidobro, Isabel’s stepfather, is appointed ambassador to Argentina.
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1967-74 Isabel writes for Paula, the first feminist magazine in Chile, which she co-founded. In addition to articles, she writes a satirical column called Los impertinentes (The Impertinents). |
1966 The family returns to Chile. Son Nicolás born.
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1963 Daughter Paula born. Isabel travels throughout Europe with her husband and daughter. They live in Belgium and Switzerland. |
1962 Isabel marries Miguel Frías.
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1959-65 Isabel joins the United Nations, working for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Santiago. |
1958 Following the Suez Canal crisis, Isabel returns to Chile to finish her secondary studies. She meets her future husband Miguel Frías, who is an engineering student.
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1953-58 Doña Panchita marries Ramón Huidobro, a career diplomat, who is subsequently appointed to Bolivia and Lebanon. Isabel attends a North American private school in Bolivia and an English private school in Lebanon. |
1945 Doña Panchita annuls her marriage to Tomás Allende and returns to Chile with her three small children. Isabel and her siblings grow up in Santiago, where they live with their mother and grandfather. |
1942 Isabel Allende born August 2 in Lima, Perú, where her father, Tomás Allende, a Chilean diplomat and first cousin of Salvadore Allende, is stationed. Her mother, Francisca Llona (known as Doña Panchita) is the daughter of Isabel Barros Moreira and Agustín Llona Cuevas. |
Gratitude Party with the “tribe” in celebration of Isabel and Willie’s life together; event held June 30 at Boulette’s Larder in San Francisco’s Ferry Building.
