Chilean author, Luis Sepulveda, on Thursday, died of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, a spokesman for the hospital that treated him in Northern Spain said.

The 70-year-old was a communist militant and fervent opponent of Chilean military dictator, Augusto Pinochet’s regime.

He authored poetry books and short stories and was famed for novels including “The Old Man Who Read Love Novels.”

A spokesman for the hospital in the Northern Spanish city of Oviedo said the author died of multiple organ failure after being admitted on Feb. 29.

He spent most of his time in the hospital’s intensive care on a respirator.

Sepulveda had lived in Gijon for many years.

In 1980, he was granted asylum by the German Government and spent more than 10 years living in Hamburg as well as several years living in France.

NAN