Teacher Gabriela Mistral and her friends from Pachuca, Mexico (1923)

Abstract

The work and activities carried out by Gabriela Mistral during her first stay in Mexico (1922-1924) have been studied extensively. In the present century, authors such as Vargas (2004), Verdugo (2005), Valenzuela (2009) and more recently Moraga (2014) and Ulloa (2019), have investigated the literary, pedagogical, political work and the many interests that Mistral had for Mexico, one of which was his enthusiasm for knowing rancherias, towns and cities. The article presented here is divided into three substantial parts. An introductory presentation, which seeks to contextualize Mistral's arrival in Mexico. The second corresponds to the activities that Mistral carried out during his stay in Pachuca, capital of the State of Hidalgo, using as a source the archives of the local newspaper,} now defunct, called El Observador, and some of the Excelsior newspaper, of Mexico City. In a third section, based on the collection of the National Library of Chile and testimonies from some relatives of the women mentioned, we wanted to highlight another fruit of the visit to Pachuca: the friendship that the Chilean writer began with some Pachuqueña women and that would last for the rest of her life. Some information was gathered through interviews with their descendants.