30 Facts About Gabriela Mistral

Gabriela Mistral was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order or Third Franciscan order.

Gabriela Mistral was the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945, "for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world".

Gabriela Mistral's image is featured on the 5,000 Chilean peso banknote.

Gabriela Mistral's father, Juan Geronimo Godoy Villanueva, was a schoolteacher but left the family when she was three years old and died alone and estranged in 1911.

In 1904, Gabriela Mistral published some early poems, including Ensonaciones, Carta Intima, and Junto al Mar, in the local newspapers El Coquimbo: Diario Radical and La Voz de Elqui, using different pseudonyms and variations of her name.

In 1906, Gabriela Mistral met Romelio Ureta, a railway worker and her first love, who tragically took his own life in 1909.

Gabriela Mistral won first prize in the national literary contest Juegos Florales held in Santiago, the capital of Chile.

Gabriela Mistral constructed her pseudonym from the names of two of her favorite poets, Gabriele D'Annunzio and Frederic Mistral, the French winner of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature, or, according to another account, as a combination of the Archangel Gabriel and the mistral wind of Provence.

In 1922, Gabriela Mistral published her debut book, Desolacion, with assistance from Federico de Onis, the Director of the Hispanic Institute of New York.

Gabriela Mistral later published Lecturas para Mujeres, a collection of prose and verse celebrating girls' education, featuring works by Latin American and European writers.

Gabriela Mistral returned to Chile in early 1925, formally retiring from the country's education system and receiving a pension.

Gabriela Mistral introduced him to her poetry and recommended readings, leading to a lifelong friendship between the two poets.

Between 1926 and 1932, Gabriela Mistral primarily resided in France and Italy.

Gabriela Mistral was among the early writers to recognize the importance and originality of Neruda's work, which she had known since he was a teenager and she was a school director in his hometown of Temuco.

Gabriela Mistral published hundreds of articles in magazines and newspapers throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

Gabriela Mistral had notable confidants such as Eduardo Santos, President of Colombia, all the elected Presidents of Chile from 1922 to her death in 1957, Eduardo Frei Montalva, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

On 15 November 1945, Gabriela Mistral became the first Latin American and the fifth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Gabriela Mistral resided in the town of Roslyn, New York, and then transferred to Hempstead, New York, where she died from pancreatic cancer on 10 January 1957 at the age of 67.

Gabriela Mistral's remains were returned to Chile nine days later, and the Chilean government declared three days of national mourning, with hundreds of thousands of mourners paying their respects.

Gabriela Mistral wrote and published approximately 800 essays in magazines and newspapers.

Gabriela Mistral was renowned as a correspondent and highly regarded orator, both in person and through radio broadcasts.

Catholicism, a significant influence in Gabriela Mistral's life, is evident in her literature; however, she maintains a neutral stance toward religion.

Gabriela Mistral's writing skillfully combines religious themes with emotions of love and piety, solidifying her position as one of the most esteemed representatives of Latin American literature in the 20th century.

In 2007, after the death of Gabriela Mistral's alleged last romantic partner, Doris Dana, her archive was discovered, containing letters exchanged between Gabriela Mistral and various occasional female lovers.

Gabriela Mistral suffered from diabetes and heart problems, and she ultimately died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 67 on 10 January 1957, in Hempstead Hospital on Long Island, New York, with Doris Dana by her side.

Gullberg noted that after experiencing the suicide of her first love, Gabriela Mistral emerged as a poet whose words spread across South America and beyond.

However, Gabriela Mistral's books do not solely focus on themes of death, desolation, and loss.

Gabriela Mistral explored themes of love and motherhood, not only in relation to her beloved railroad employee and nephew but in her interactions with the children she taught.

Gullberg pays homage to Gabriela Mistral, acknowledging her as the great singer of sorrow and motherhood in Latin America.

Some of Gabriela Mistral's poems are translated into Nepali by Suman Pokhrel, and collected in an anthology titled Manpareka Kehi Kavita.