Matilde Urrutia

Matilde Urrutia Cerda was the third wife of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, from 1966 until he died in 1973. They met in Santiago, Chile in 1946, when she was working as a physical therapist in Chile. She was the first woman in Latin America to work as a pediatric therapist. Urrutia was the inspiration behind Neruda's later love poems beginning with Los Versos del Capitan in 1951, which the poet withheld publication until 1961 to spare the feelings of his previous wife; as well as 100 Love Sonnets which includes a beautiful dedication to her.