Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez, born in Aracataca, Colombia was the author of several novels, novellas, and short stories. His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad), published in 1967, is widely acclaimed and a favorite of President Barack Obama. Márquez was a celebrated winning the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Best Foreign Book Award in France, the Rómulo Gallegos Prize, and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. Juan Manuel Santos, the then President of Colombia, made a statement when Márquez died, declaring him "the greatest Colombian who ever lived."