Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957)

Awarded the Prize “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.”

Chilean poet. Mistral was born in Vicuna, Chile on April 7, 1889. When she was only three yeas old, her father abandoned the family, and she had her education at rural primary school and Vicuna secondary school. She taught at various elementary and secondary schools and in 1921 she became the principal of Santiago High School. She was Chilean consul in Naples, Madrid, and Lisbon. In 1930 Mistral was a visiting professor at Barnard College, New York City, and Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. She taught Spanish literature in the United States at Columbia University, Middlebury College, Vassar College, and at the University of Puerto Rico. She died on January 10, 1957 in New York.
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