Renowned poet Juan Gelman has died at the age of 83. The Argentine writer passed away at a hospital in his adopted hometown of Mexico City, Mexico on Tuesday (14Jan14). Local media reports suggest he had been battling bone marrow and blood diseases.
Hailed as one of the greatest authors working in the Spanish language, he penned more than 20 books of poetry and wrote several newspaper columns.
Gelman was also a left-wing activist and journalist, campaigning against his country’s military government in the 1970s before he was forced into exile following Argentina’s 1976 coup.
He was handed the Argentine National Poetry Prize in 1997 and was the recipient of the Cervantes Prize, the highest accolade for Spanish writers, in 2007.
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