In 1951, he met Irene Klatt Getta in Santiago, who played a fundamental role in his life and to whom he dedicates a large part of his work. In 1952 she died. Of her he said, "Desde ese día yo destruí todo, cualquier posibilidad de otro amor igual, hasta mi propio matrimonio. Nunca más he podido amar a nadie así. Solo he amado a Irene." ("From that day I destroyed everything, any possibility of another equal love, even my own marriage. I have never been able to love anyone like that again. I only loved Irene.") Andrea Sierra wrote in El Mercurio that he called her "Allouine" and was the "only one – he said – who he really loved". During his funeral at the General Cemetery it was her crypt that his coffin stopped at before carrying on.