Timeline

This is a timeline of Isabel Allende's life and publications

	1942 Isabel Allende is born in Lima Perú where her father Tomás Allende, is a diplomatic official of Chile, cousin of Salvador Allende. Her mother Francisca Llona, “Doña Panchita,” is daughter of Isabel Barros Moreira and Agustín Llona Cuevas.

1953-58
Doña Panchita marries Ramón Huidobro, the “tío Ramón,” diplomatic by career, appointed to Bolivia and Beirut. In Bolivia, Isabel attends to a North American private school, and in Beirut to an English private school.

1962
Isabel marries Miguel Frías.

1964-65
She travels all around Europe; lives in Brussels and Switzerland with her husband and her daughter.

1967-74
She writes for the Paula magazine. She forms part of the first editorial team. She is in charge of the humorous column “The impertinents” and writes feminist articles.

1945
Doña Panchita revokes her marriage to Tomás Allende and returns to Chile with her three small children to live in her parentsâ house in Santiago, where her three children grow under the care of her mother and the grandfather.

1958
Isabel returns to Chile as a result of the Canal de Suez crisis to finish her secondary studies. She meets her future husband, Miguel Frías, an Engineering student.

1959-65
Isabel works for the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) of the United Nations in Santiago.

1963
Her daughter Paula is born.

1966
She returns to Chile and her son Nicolás is born.

1985
The House of the Spirits is translated into English, Editorial Knopf, Translator, Magda Bogin.

1988
She marries Willie Gordon on July 17 in San Francisco. They reside in San Rafael, California up to the present.

1990
In Chile the democracy is established again. Patricio Aylwin is elected president. After fifteen years of absence, Isabel returns to receive the Gabriela Mistral award.

1991
The Infinite Plan is published in Spain. Paula suffers a Porphyria attack and goes into coma on December 6 in Madrid when Isabel launches The Infinite Plan, published by Plaza y Jané s in Spanish.

1993
The Infinite Plan is published in English. The House of the Spirits is staged in London in August. On October 22, The House of the Spirits motion picture is released in Munich, produced by Bernd Eichinger, directed by Billie August with the following cast: Winona Ryder, Venessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Glen Close, Jeremy Irons and Antonio Banderas.

1998
She is distinguished with the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize granted to “who has contributed to the beauty of the world”, crowning a long list of international awards in her career.

2000
“Portrait in Sepia” is published in Spain and other European countries with unprecedented success. Isabel is invited to the Oprah show, which helped her novel “Daughter of Fortune” enormously in the United States.

2003
“My Invented Country” was published in May 2003. It was featured on the Bill Moyers show, “NOW“ and extensively covered by the press.

“Kingdom of the Golden Dragon,” the second installment in the trilogy, was published in Spanish in Fall 2003.

2004
Isabel was named Ambassador to Hans Christian Andersen on Sept. 30, 2004 at Rosenberg Castle in Copenhagen. HRH Crown Prince Frederik and Mr. Lars Seeberg, Secretary General of the Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Foundation present the award.

1987
She divorces Miguel Frías. Eva Luna is published in Spain by Plaza y Janés; in English by Knopf, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden, translator of the rest of the works by Isabel.

1989
She publishes a collection of short stories “Stories of Eva Luna,” Plaza y Janés, Spain.

1992
Paula dies in San Rafael in Isabel and Willie's house on December 6.

1994
Paula is published in Spanish by Plaza y Janés, in German and Dutch with the subtitle “novel”. Of Love and Shadows is made into a movie by Betty Kaplan, with Antonio Banderas as leading actor.

1997
Aphrodite is published in Spanish by Plaza y Janés.

1999
“Daughter of Fortune” is published in Spain and soon translated into English. This is a year of book tours for Isabel. In February her son Nicolas and Lori Barra marry.

2002
“The City of Beasts”, the first installment in a trilogy for young adults, was published in Fall 2002 to rave reviews.

2004
“Kingdom of the Golden Dragon,” was published in English in May 2004 to coincide with the city of Seattle's choice of Isabel Allende as the “Author that Everyone Should Read.” Isabel spent a week in Seattle celebrating this great honor.


		2004 “The House of the Spirits” was chosen by German readers to be number 13 among the top 100 favorite books. “Paula” was number 80.

2005
The third and last installment of the trilogy, “Forest of the Pygmies” was published in 2005.

“Zorro” was published in Spain in Spring 2005. It was extensively covered by the press and met with rave reviews.

Give credit where credit is due.

An inspiring timeline curtesy of Allende's personal website www.isabelallende.com


1973-74 She contributes to the children magazine Mampato, in Santiago, and later she briefly directed it.She publishes two stories for children, The grandmother Panchita and Lauchas y lauchones and a compilation of her humorous articles of Civilice a su troglodita

1970-75
Isabel works for the television channels 13 and 7 in Santiago. She has a humorous program and another one of interviews. Her programs enjoy great popularity.

1975
Isabel and her family move to Venezuela; they stay there for thirteen years. She contributes to the newspaper of Caracas, El Nacional.

1979-82
She works as administrator for the Marroco College, a secondary school in Caracas.

1981
When she receives the news that her 99 year old grandfather is dying, she began to write him a letter that would turn into the manuscript of The House of the Spirits.

1982
The House of the Spirits is published, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona.

1970
Salvador Allende is elected first socialist president of Chile. The stepfather of Isabel, Ramón Huidobro is appointed ambassador to Argentina.

1972
Her stage play El embajador is performed in Santiago.

1973
On September 11 there is a coup in Chile, lead by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte. Salvador Allende dies; it is suspected that he was assassinated.The military government spreads the news that he committed suicide.

1978
Temporary separation from Miguel Frías. She lives in Spain for two months, then returned to her marriage.

1984
La gorda de porcelana is published, Ediciones Alfaguara, Madrid, short humorous story written in 1974 and submitted for printing in 1975. Of Love and Shadows is published, Plaza y Janés.