Gabriela Mistral Biography and latest books by Gabriela Mistral

Lucila de Maria del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga was born in 1889 in Vicuna, Chile. She grew up in Montegrande, a village in the Andes. She wrote under the pseudonym of Gabriela Mistral. She went to study in the local school where her older sister was a teacher. Her father left the family and the family lived in poverty. By 15, she began to work as a teacher’s aide at Compañia Baja. She also began to publish her poems such as Ensonaciones, Carta Íntima, and Junto al Mar. She won a first prize at Juegos Florales, a literary contest in Santiago and she shot to fame.

Mistral began to work as a teacher while she also wrote poetry and contributed to newspapers and magazines. She worked in Los Andes liceo or high school. Pedro Aguirre Cerda, former Minister of Education and future President of Chile gave her the opportunity to administer a liceo. She moved to Mexico at the behest of José Vasconcelos, Minister of Education in Mexico to establish libraries and a new educational system in Mexico. She published Desolation that year followed by Lecturas para Mujeres (Readings for Women) discussing Latin America.

Among many of Mistral’s achievements, the University of Chile acknowledged her as Spanish Professor. It was a slap on the face to all those who opposed the opportunities provided to her stating only individuals with university degrees could be promoted to certain posts. He formal education had ended when she was twelve years old.

Mistral moved on to work for the League of Nations representing South America. She also taught at Barnard College of Columbia University, Middlebury College, Vassar College, and University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. She lived in France and Italy.