The child who became Gabriela Mistral was born Lucila Godoy y Alcayaga in the town of Vicuña in the poor and sparsely populated Elqui valley, Northern Chile, on 7 April 1889. Her mother, Petronila Alcayaga, was a seamstress, and her father, Juan Jerónimo Godoy, a teacher, musician and amateur poet. After her father abandoned the family home in 1892, she was raised by her elder sister, Emelina, and her mother, in relative poverty. Her schooling, which reached only primary level, was erratic at best, and the largely self-taught Lucila, of mixed Basque, Spanish, Indigenous American and possibly Jewish heritage, was an unlikely candidate to achieve the political power, international renown, and literary consecration that greeted her later in life.

Straightened family circumstances obliged

2029 words

Citation: Bollig, Ben. "Gabriela Mistral". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 May 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11970, accessed 19 March 2024.]

11970 Gabriela Mistral 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.