15 Facts About Gioconda Belli

Gioconda Belli was born on December 9,1948 and is a Nicaraguan-born novelist and poet known for her contributions to Nicaraguan literature.

Gioconda Belli grew up in a wealthy family in Managua.

Gioconda Belli's father is Humberto Belli Zapata and her brother is Humberto Belli.

Gioconda Belli attended boarding school in Spain, graduated from the Royal School of Santa Isabel in Madrid, and studied advertising and journalism at the Charles Morris Price School of Advertising and Journalism in Philadelphia.

Gioconda Belli married and had her first daughter at 19 when she returned to Nicaragua.

In 1970, Gioconda Belli joined the struggle against the Somoza dictatorship, sworn into the movement by Leana Ortega, Camilo Ortega's wife.

Gioconda Belli has since left the FSLN and became a major critic of the Ortega government.

In 1970, Gioconda Belli published her first poems in the literary supplement of Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa.

Gioconda Belli continues publishing and maintains that poetry is her most important work.

Gioconda Belli was the recipient of the Premio Casa de las Americas in 1978.

In 2008 Gioconda Belli received the Premio Biblioteca Breve for her book El infinito en la palma de la mano, an allegory about Adam and Eve in paradise.

Gioconda Belli was a clandestine courier, transported weapons, travelled around Europe and Latin America obtaining resources and spreading the word about the Sandinista struggle.

Gioconda Belli became a member of the FSLN's Political-Diplomatic Commission.

In 2018, Gioconda Belli took a stand against the government of Daniel Ortega, which emerged from the 2016 elections, and became an active member of the Sandinista renewal movement.

On February 23,2023, Gioconda Belli accepted Chilean citizenship after the Chilean Government offered nationality and asylum to all the Nicaraguans banished by Ortega.