Neruda was born in the City of Parral in Chile on July 12, 1904 born under the name Ricardo Neftali Reyes. Neruda’s mother died shortly after he was born, but the child, Neruda came to love his stepmother (Dona Trinidad Candia Malverde) as if she had been his real mother. Neruda started to write poetry as a young boy against the wishes of his father who wanted him to focus on mathematics - so he could become a teacher. In his youth he became a great admirer of the poetry of Jan Neruda and Paul Verlaine and chose the pen name of Pablo Neruda after Paul Verlaine (Pablo is the Spanish version of Paul) and Jan Neruda. 