Libraries Commission
The activity, organized by the Library Commission of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities, delivered unpublished findings about the personal library that the poet kept in the last period of her life.
In the year of the 80th anniversary of the Nobel Prize awarded to Gabriela Mistral, the Library Commission (CABID) of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) paid tribute to the Chilean poet to celebrate the World Book and Copyright Day, through the virtual discussion entitled «The Mistral Treasure: Gabriela's Personal Library as a Spiritual Heritage» which invited university communities and the public throughout the country to discover an unknown and revealing perspective of the Mistralian legacy.
The The activity was inaugurated by the rector of the University of La Serena (ULS), Dr. Luperfina Rojas, [Name], who, as CRUCH representative on the National Commission for the 80th Anniversary of the Nobel Prize, highlighted the importance of Gabriela Mistral, not only as a writer, but also as a fundamental figure in the educational and cultural history of Chile. During her remarks, she stated that “this discussion reflects the legacy of one of our greatest authors and also the collaborative spirit that inspires us as public educational institutions.”.
A unique approach: the value of his personal library
The discussion addressed the research surrounding Gabriela Mistral's personal library - housed in the Doris Atkinson collection, partly held by the ULS - a little-explored source that offers essential keys to understanding her thinking in the last decades of her life.
Two prominent academics from the University of La Serena, the coordinator of the Mistral Center, Dr. Desirée López de Maturana, and the researcher and Master in Latin American Studies, Kamila Muñoz, guided the attendees through a journey through the texts that marked the existential and spiritual search of the poet: those generously provided by professor and journalist Bernardo Ossandón in her early stage and, mainly, those acquired after the death of Yin Yin, in a mature period, of enormous pain and spiritual search.
“In this last collection—comprising works from diverse spiritual traditions such as Hinduism, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, alchemy, the power of the mind, occult botany, and authors such as Steiner, Blavatsky, Eliphas Levi, Paracelsus, Pythagoras, among many others, who are connected to a metaphysical line of knowledge—Gabriela not only underlined revealing phrases, but also personal notes that demonstrate her profound reflection on life, death, and the transcendental meaning of existence, showing an author who actively engaged with the most advanced currents of spiritual knowledge of her time,” López de Maturana noted.
The discussion not only allowed for a more precise tracing of Gabriela Mistral's spiritual journey, but also projected her as a paradigmatic figure whose thought continues to resonate with contemporary researchers, educators, readers, and citizens. Beyond the aesthetic experience, this legacy lends a cognitive and transformative dimension to reading, in which the act of reading becomes a vehicle for self-knowledge and transcendental exploration.
Among the handwritten notes found in the Notebook 53 From this collection—and the phrases underlined with a familiar blue wood—emerge expressions such as “we will be remade,” “do not live in the present or the future, but in the eternal,” “you must also seek the latent infinity in every form,” or “the transmutation of lower metals into gold alludes to the transmutation of dense bodies into spirit,” which configure a symbolic cartography of interiority, a map oriented toward a spiritual praxis where the written word becomes a tool for transformation and opening toward the eternal.
Along these same lines, Dr. López de Maturana points out that the research illuminates a little-explored component of Mistral's work: her deliberate break with religious dogma and the epistemic frameworks inherited from colonialism. Influenced by the currents of enlightened liberalism and a critical reading of Western tradition, Gabriela Mistral distanced herself from the views imposed by the Hispanic canon, which she denounced as classist, reductionist, and a reproducer of systems of subjugation. Instead, she articulated an autonomous thought, nourished by a non-dogmatic spirituality and a radical humanism, oriented toward the emancipation of the subject and the decolonization of knowledge.
Another facet of the research is where, based on the path traced by the poet's readings, researcher Kamila Muñoz develops a self-knowledge game that will be launched on June 6, called “Arcana: The signs of fire”.
The importance of bibliographic memory
The talk also opened a reflection on the value of this heritage, currently scattered in Chilean museums and libraries, not only as a documentary archive, but as a profound guide to the most urgent questions of our time.
In an era marked by a crisis of meaning, Gabriela's legacy offers valuable insights for understanding our societies. Universities, in this context, have an irreplaceable role as mediators between these memories and the future.
The closing remarks were delivered by Karen Jara, president of the CRUCH Library Commission and director of Libraries at the University of Concepción, who expressed her gratitude for the broad participation and highlighted the collaboration of the individuals and institutions that made the discussion possible. "As president of CABID, it was an honor to participate in this discussion, which allowed us to explore Gabriela Mistral's legacy through her personal library. Activities like this reinforce the importance of our university libraries as spaces for memory, inspiration, and the construction of identity," she stated.
Text and photographs: CABID Communications Subcommittee
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