Letelier-Ruz, Elias, 1957-

Elias Letelier-Ruz was born in 1957 in Santiago, Chile, of Jewish and French ancestry.

He is a Chilean poet. He studied anthropological linguistics and psychology. Following the coup d'état that overthrew President Salvador Allende in 1973, he joined the resistance, lived in hiding and organized literary workshops in the Sociedad de Escritores de Chile. In November 1981, he left Chile and served as Director of the newspaper El Siglo and Human Rights Commissioner of the Canadian Maritime universities. He was also a correspondent for different press media, editor of the National Council of Culture of Nicaragua, First Lieutenant of the Sandinista Popular Army of Nicaragua, and a member of the Guatemalan guerrilla army. He currently directs the Red de Familiares y Amigos de los Presos Políticos de Chile (Network of Relatives and Friends of Political Prisoners of Chile) and serves as President of the Research and Development Division of CdPoetry Multimedia. His poems have been translated into several languages. His first collection “Silence” was published in French in 1997, followed by "Histoire de la nuit" (Montreal, 1998). Montreal-born composer Tim Brady, inspired by Elias Letelier-Ruz’s book of poems “Symphony” (1988), composed "Atacama: symphonie no 3" (2012).