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Finding Aid for the Gabriela Mistral collection, 1924-1948
311
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Title: Gabriela Mistral collection
Date (inclusive): 1924-1948
Collection number: 311
Creator:
Mistral, Gabriela
1889-1957
Extent:
3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)
1 oversize box
Abstract: The collection consists of artwork,
certificates, diplomas, newspaper issues and photographs relating to the
Chilean writer and poet Gabriela Mistral (born Lucila Godoy y Alcayata)
(1889-1957). Ranging in date from circa 1924 to 1948, the collection
highlights the fame and recognition Gabriela Mistral achieved both in
Chile and worldwide. The contents reveal her many friendships with
artistic and political contemporaries, as well as the many admirers of
her work.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Processed by Elize Mazadiego in the Center for
Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Elizabeth
Sheehan.
[Identification of item], Gabriela Mistral collection (Collection 311). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, UCLA.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
4232762
Gabriela Mistral was born Lucila Godoy y Alcayata on April 6, 1889 in
Vicuña, Chile –one of the main cities in the valle de
Elqui. Her father, Juan Jeronimo Godoy, was a school teachers in latin,
greek, philosophy, literature and theology and her mother, Petronila
Alcayaga Godoy, was a seamstress.
At the age of 14 Gabriela began working as a teacher in order to help
support her mother and family since their father left when Gabriela was
only 3 years old. Around this period she was beginning to write and
explore other authors and poets. A year after she began teaching
Gabriela had her first publication, "El Muerte del Poeta" in the
newspaper El Coquimbo. Following her publication Mistral wrote and
published several works under various pseudonyms, including Gabriela
Mistral.
In 1914 the Sociedad de Artistas y Escritores de Chile awarded
Gabriela for her collection of poems titled Sonetos de la Muerte. After
receiving national recognition she stuck with the name Gabriela Mistral
– a fusion from the names of Italian poet Gabriela D' Annunzio
and French poet Fédéric Mistral. She continued to devote
herself to education, especially women's education as a teacher and
director of a girls' school in Chile. She was later invited to Mexico by
the Minister of Public Education, José Vasconcelos, to
participate in programming Mexico's national education.
Her writings achieved an international reputation after the
publication of her first book Desolación in 1922. She toured the
United States, Europe and Latin America establishing friendships with
many contemporary writers. During her travels Gabriela published more of
her poetry. She returned several times to Chile, but lived primarily in
France and Italy. There she was very active with the League for
Intellectual Co-operation for the League of Nations. After, Mistral
worked as a professor at several prestigious universities in the United
States. Later, she became Chile's ambassador and consul while staying in
other parts of the world such as Brazil, Spain, Italy, Portugal and a
short period in Los Angeles, California. In 1945 Gabriela Mistral
received the Nobel Prize –she was the first Latin American to be
awarded the prize for Literature. Due to failing health, Mistral stopped
traveling and settled in New York where she passed away on December 10,
1957.
The collection consists of artwork, certificates, diplomas, newspaper
issues and photographs relating to the Chilean writer and poet Gabriela
Mistral. Ranging in date from circa 1924 to 1948, the collection
highlights the fame and recognition Gabriela Mistral achieved both in
Chile and worldwide. The contents reveal her many friendships with
artistic and political contemporaries, as well as the many admirers of
her work.
Included in the collection are: numerous images and portraits of
Gabriela Mistral, candid photographs that document Mistral's travels and
meetings with noteworthy colleagues and friends; correspondence between
Gabriela Mistral to her mother; letters, gifts and mementos to Gabriela
Mistral; certificates and diplomas honoring Gabriela Mistral, a bulletin
of the meeting of the Union Panamericana from 1947, a potential short
story by Gabriela Mistral, and an album dedicated to Gabriela Mistral
with photographic reproductions of Marina Nunez Prado's sculptural work.
Arranged in the following series:
- Albums
- Art
- Papers
- Photographs
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Mistral,
Gabriela, 1889-1957.
Women authors, Chilean --
Archival resources.
Photographs.