Gabriel García Márquez Biography

Chronicle of a Death Foretold About the Author

Best known as the author of the prizewinning One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez began life in Aracataca, Colombia, on March 6,1928. The son of poor parents, Garcia Marquez lived with his grandparents for the first eight years of his life. According to Garcia Marquez, this is common practice in the Caribbean. In his case, though, his grandparents offered to raise him as a reconciliatory gesture toward their daughter after opposing her marriage to Garcia Marquez's father. As a result, Garcia Marquez grew up in a house with his grandparents, aunts, and uncles and hardly knew his mother. His extended family regaled him with stories: the women told tales of superstition and fantasy, while the men—especially his grandfather—kept him grounded in reality.

In 1947, Garcia Marquez entered the National University of Colombia, in Bogota, to study law. He had to transfer to the University of Cartagena...
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