Gabriela Mistral: teacher and minstrel of motherhood

Abstract

Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga is the real name of Gabriela Mistral, the name by which the famous Chilean, who was the fifth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature, is known. She signed her first works as Lucila Godoi y Alcayaga. As far as it is known, she used her artistic name for the first time and publicly in the poem Del pasado that appeared in the newspaper El Coquimbo in 1908. Her great work as a teacher and poet led her to be the diplomatic figure of several American countries. For this issue of the EAC magazine, we have selected La instrucción de la mujer, which was published on Thursday, March 8, 1906, almost a month short of her 17th birthday. It already indicates her maturity with respect to social issues and the social fragility of women. This document is followed by a letter in which the poet criticizes Abel Madac, a critic of the time who was bothered by her literary style, characterizing him as "bitter pessimism", and her as "unbalanced brain (...) by overthinking". She considers him mediocre. Then appears the Introduction to these "Lecturas para mujeres" (Readings for women). Lecturas para mujeres is the title of a compilation she made in Mexico with various authors that I thought every woman should know. From this work, in addition to the prologue, several of her poems were selected, whose themes revolve around the female figure. This collection closes with three poems taken from Tala, one of her most important works, which she dedicates to the Spanish children who suffered during the civil war.