The Colombian Nobel Literature laureate is considered one of the greatest Spanish- language writers of all time, best-known for his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude. 

During his career he achieved literary celebrity which spawned comparisons to Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. 

Last night Barack Obama was among the many to pay tribute to Garcia Marquez – known as ‘Gabo’ to his friends. 

The US President said the world had lost ‘one of its greatest visionary writers’, adding that he  cherished an inscribed copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude, presented to him by the author on a visit to Mexico.

‘I offer my thoughts to his family and friends, whom I hope take  solace in the fact that Gabo’s work will live on for generations to come,’ he said.

Garcia Marquez was admitted to hospital in Mexico, where he has lived for the past three decades, on March 31 suffering from lung and urinary infections. 

He spent eight days there before returning home to his family, who said in a statement at the time that his health was ‘stable’ but ‘fragile’.