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Isabel Allende Llona (born August 2, 1942) is a
Chilean writer whose books have been translated
into many languages. She is one of the most
popular novelists in the world today, selling over
35 million copies and translated in 27 different
languages.

Allende was born in Lima, Peru, to diplomat Tomás
Allende, the niece of Salvador Allende, the
President of Chile  from 1970 to 1973|73.  In
1945, her parents separated, and her mother
relocated with their three children to Chile,
where they lived until 1953.

The family later moved to Bolivia and then to
Lebanon.  While in Bolivia, Allende attended an
United States|American private school, and while
in Lebanon a United Kingdom|British private school
in Beirut.  She returned to Chile in 1958 to
complete her secondary education, and there she
met her first husband, Miguel FrĂ­as, whom she
married in 1962.

From 1959 to 1965, Allende worked with the United
Nations' FAO in Santiago, Chile|Santiago, and
later in Brussels, Belgium, and elsewhere in
Europe.  Her daughter Paula was born in 1963.   In
1966, Allende returned to Chile, and her son
Nicolás was born there that year.

Beginning in 1967, Allende was on the editorial
staff for Paula magazine, and from 1973 to 1974
for the children's magazine Mampato.  She
published two children's stories, "La abuela
Panchita" and "Lauchas y Lauchones," as well as a
collection of articles, Civilice a su troglodita. 
She also worked in Chilean television production
for channels 7 and 13.

In 1973, Allende's play El embajador debuted in
Santiago. On September 11 that same year, her
uncle was overthrown in the wake of a violent coup
and died of his wounds (whether from murder or
suicide is a matter of controversy). In 1975,
Isabel  Allende went into exile in Venezuela.
While there, she worked for the Caracas newspaper
El Nacional and as a teacher in a secondary
school.

In 1981, Allende learned that her grandfather, age
99, was on his deathbed. She started writing him a
letter that later evolved into a book manuscript,
The House of Spirits (1982).  The book was a great
su