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Nobel-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who is popular for his work "One Hundred Years of Solitude" among others, has passed away. He was 87. Garcia Marquez died at his home in Mexico City on Thursday, April 17. He was released from hospital last week after being treated for pneumonia.

Many people including world leaders took to Twitter to pay tribute after learning of the sad news. "The world has lost one of its greatest visionary writers - and one of my favorites from the time I was young," read a statement from President Barack Obama.

"A thousand years of solitude and sadness because of the death of the greatest Colombian of all time! Solidarity and condolences to his wife and family ... Such giants never die," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said. Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto added, "On behalf of Mexico, I express my sadness for the death of one the greatest writers of our time: Gabriel Garcia Marquez."

Pop star Shakira also took part in the pouring tribute. She wrote on her website, "Your life, dear Gabo, will be remembered by all of us as a unique and singular gift, and as the most original story of all."

Affectionately known as Gabo, the Colombian-born author is dubbed one of Spanish language's greatest authors. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982 "for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts." In addition to "One Hundred Years of Solitude", his other popular works include "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", "Love in the Time of Cholera" and "Autumn of the Patriarch".

Garcia Marquez is survived by his wife of more than 55 years and two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo. According to The Associated Press, the Mexican government will hold a memorial which takes place in the Art Deco Palace of Fine Arts on Monday.