Birthday: Gabirel Garcia Marquez

Born in Columbia, Marquez established himslef as one of the great writers of the 20th century. Affectionately known as 'Gabo', Marquez first gained prominence with his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. He went on to lead the Hispanic literary boom felt around the world.

Marquez was born into a very poor family and was raised by his grandparents. Most of his young life was spent not only in poverty but amidst civil war. He was educated in a Jesuit secondary school which helped him to enter the Universidad Nacional in Bogota as a law student. However, law did not interest him and he found himslef intrigued with literature and writing. Kafka's The Metamorphosis had a profound impact on him.

Marquez spent years writing newspaper articles and screenplays for short films. In 1965 inspiration struck and he began writing One Hundred Years of Solitude. The novel was translated into numerous languages and won countless awards. In 1982 Marquez was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Unfortunately, in 1999 Marquez was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. Through the sickness Gabo has written his memoirs, the first volume of which was published in 2001.

If Gabriel Garcia Marquez died today he would be worth 23 points for Izzy.