Gabriela Mistral

611 Words2 Pages

Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, better known by her pen name, Gabriela Mistral, was a Chilian writer who is most famously known for her emotional pieces of literature. (Gabriela- Facts) Sorrow, love, and Christian faith are some of her main focal points in her poetry. (Biography) Her skills in writing played a significant roll in her lifetime. Mistral was one of the most well known Latin American poets of her time. (Gabriela)
Gabriela Mistral was born on April 7, 1889, in Vicuna, Chile.(Mistral - Facts) Petronila Alcayga, her mother, was a schoolteacher and her father, Jeronimo Godoy ALcayga Villanueva, was a poet. Mistral was raised with her sister in Monte Grand solely by her mother because her father abandoned them when Mistral was only 3 years old. She started attending school at 9 years old but only went for 3 years. Her short time in school opened the door for her oncoming poetry career. (Bois) At age 16, she and her family moved to La Cantera where she had to start working as a teachers assistant to support her mother and sister. (Biography) Mistral fell in love with a railroad worker. Unfortunately, the relationship took a turn for the worst and the boy committed suicide with only a postcard from Gabriela Mistral found on him. (Bois)
Mistral saw that she had an interest in writing when she was in primary school. She had been around poetry when she was younger because of her father. After her boyfriend committed suicide, it inspired her to write about her feelings because of his actions. Mistral threw herself into her work to escape the reality of what had happened and the result were the publishing of 3 Sonetas de la Muerte (Sonnets of Death) which expressed the way she felt about his death. His death sparked her writing because...

... middle of paper ...

...lped mold her into the wonderful woman that she was.

Works Cited

"Gabriela Mistral - Facts". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 3 Apr 2014.

"Gabriela Mistral." Poetryfoundation.org. Poetry Foundation, Web. 04 Apr. 2014. .

"Biography Gabriela Mistral." Gabriela Mistral Biography. Biographyonline.net, Web. 03 Apr. 2014. .

Bois, Danuta. "Gabriela Mistral." Distinguished Women of Past and Present. Distinguishedwomen.com, 1997. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. .

"The Life of Gabriela Mistral." Home.wlu.edu. A. Fraiser, 1993. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. .

Open Document