Biography of Gabriela Mistral
(1889/04/07 - 1957/01/10)
Gabriela Mistral
Lucila de Maria from the Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga
Chilean diplomat and poet
The experience is a lottery ticket purchased after the drawGabriela Mistral
Was born on April 7, 1889, in the city of vicuña, fourth region, Chile.
Daughter of Juan Jerónimo Godoy and Petronila Alcayaga, who baptized it with the name of Lucila. Three years after his father abandons the family.
Daughter of a rural teacher and with a half-sister of the same profession who taught him the first letters, entered La Union school, completing his basic education in vicuña, where the Director believed that he suffered from "mental retardation".
Nearly have to be self-taught because of the difficult economic situation of his family and the isolation of the region.
In 1904 he collaborated in the newspaper "Coquimbo", in La Serena, using the pseudonyms of "someone", "Soledad" and "soul".
At fifteen he began to work, at the company's school, neighboring village to vicuña.
At the age of 17 met Romelio Ureta, a railway employee, "the love of his life". During this period, he teaches at the school of La Cantera.
In 1907 he wrote for the newspapers "The voice of Elqui" and "La Reforma". A year later appears in the anthology "Coquimbana literature" of L. Carlos Soto Ayala, in which it devotes a short survey and selects three poetic prose of the author: "reverie", "by the sea" and "intimate letter".
On November 25, 1909, at 26 years of age, commits suicide in Coquimbo, Romelio Ureta. It is said that she removed railroad box money to help a friend and can not return it ended its life. In their pockets a card was found with the name of Lucila Godoy.
Early vocation by the Magisterium, he became Director of several tax schools.
His fame as a poet came in 1914, after having been awarded in some floral games by their sonnets of death, inspired by the suicide of his great love, the young Romelio Ureta. At this contest was presented under the pseudonym since then would accompany her throughout his life and who was conceived by the writer as a tribute to two poets who admired, Gabrielle D'Annunzio and Frédéric Mistral.
His first book of poems, desolation (1922), was followed by tenderness (1924), slash (1938), Lagar (1954) and others.
Inspector in the ladies Liceo de La Serena and outstanding educator, visited Mexico, United States and Europe studying the schools and educational methods in these countries. He was a visiting professor at the universities of Barnard, Middlebury, and Puerto Rico.
From 1933, and over a period of twenty years, he worked as consul of their country in cities like Madrid, Lisbon and Los Angeles, among others.
His poetry has been translated into English, French, Italian, German and Swedish being very influential in the creative work of many Latin American writers later, as Pablo Neruda and Octavio Paz. Its various poems written for children are recited and Sung in many different countries. In 1945 was the first Latin American writer who won the Nobel Prize for literature. In 1951, they awarded the National prize of literature of his country.
In 1928, and along with his close friend Palma Guillén Juan Miguel Godoy Mendoza, born in Barcelona in 1925, adopted son of his half brother Carlos Miguel Godoy and Marta Mendoza Catalan. The child accompanied Mistral in his travels and when they resided in Petropolis (Brazil), fell in love with is a young German that wanted to get married. Gabriela was opposed to the wedding and the young man committed suicide by ingesting arsenic on August 14, 1943.
Gabriela Mistral is intimately related with Doris Dana, which met in New York in 1946. Dana was Lesbian and 31 years younger than she. He was 27 years old when they met and Gabriela reminded him physically to the actress Katherine Hepburn. Her friend worked occasionally at the Department of State and despite not sharing language your intimate relationship lasted until the death of the poet. Doris Dana became executor of his work and also his main heir.
After a long illness, Gabriela Mistral died on 10 January 1957, at 4.10 p.m., at the General Hospital in Hempstead, newYork. She died alone, at all times was assisted by Doris Dana. Their remains receive the homage of the people of Chile, declaring three days of official mourning. The remains of Gabriela Mistral arrived in Chile on January 19, 1957 and mourned at the University of Chile, where 400 girls from high school No. 6, Gabriela was its first Director, did honor guard. She received burial in Montegrande and paid him tribute throughout the continent and in the majority of countries of the world.