Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, better known by her pen name, Gabriela Mistral, was a Chilean writer best known for her emotional literary pieces. (Gabriela- The Facts) Pain, love and Christian faith are some of the main focal points of his poetry. (Biography) His writing skills played a significant role in his life. Mistral was one of the best-known Latin American poets of his time. (Gabriela)Gabriela Mistral was born on April 7, 1889 in Vicuna, Chile.(Mistral - Facts) Petronila Alcayga, her mother, was a teacher and her father, Jeronimo Godoy ALcayga Villanueva, was a poet. Mistral was raised with her sister in Monte Grand exclusively by her mother because her father abandoned them when Mistral was only 3 years old. She started attending school at 9 years old but only went there for 3 years. His brief time at school opened the door to his impending poetry career. (Bois) At the age of 16, she and her family moved to La Cantera where she had to start working as a teacher's assistant to support her mother and sister. (Biography) Mistral fell in love with a railway worker. Unfortunately the relationship took a bad turn and the boy committed suicide with only a postcard from Gabriela Mistral on him. (Bois)Mistral realized she had an interest in writing when she was in elementary school. She had taken up poetry when she was younger because of her father. After her boyfriend committed suicide, this inspired her to write about her feelings because of his actions. Mistral threw himself into his work to escape the reality of what had happened and the result was the publication of 3 Sonetas de la Muerte (Death Sonnets) expressing his feelings regarding his death. His death inspired her to write because... middle of paper... it helped shape her into the wonderful woman she was. Works Cited "Gabriela Mistral - Facts". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 3 April 2014."Gabriela Mistral." Poetryfoundation.org. Foundation for Poetry, Web. 04 April 2014. "Biography Gabriela Mistral." Biography of Gabriela Mistral. Biographyonline.net, Web. 03 April 2014. .Bois, Danuta. "Gabriela Mistral." Illustrious women of the past and present. Distinguishedwomen.com, 1997. Web. 06 April 2014. "The Life of Gabriela Mistral." Home.wlu.edu. A. Fraiser, 1993. Web. 06 April. 2014. .