Who was Lucila Godoy Alcayaga?

Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957) was the pseudonym (pen-name) of Lucila Godoy Alcayaga. A Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist she was the first Latin American (and the only Latin American woman) to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1945). Some central themes in her poems are nature, betrayal, love, a mother's love, sorrow and recovery, travel, and Latin American identity as formed from a mixture of Native American and European influences. Her portrait also appears on the 5,000 Chilean peso bank note.

While working as a teacher, Mistral met Romelio Ureta (a railway worker) who killed himself in 1909. The profound effects of death were in the poet's work; writing about his suicide led the Lucila to consider death and life more broadly than previous generations of Latin American poets. While Mistral had passionate friendships with various men and women (and these impacted her writings), she was secretive about her emotional life.

Prize motivation: "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". Lucila also received the Juegos Florales, Sonetos de la Muerte in 1914, and in

1951 she received the Chilean National Prize for Literature.