Statement read by Mariano Fernandez Amunategui, Ambassador fo Chile in the United States, on the occasion of transfer of legacy of Gabriel Mistral from South Hadley, Massachusetts to Washington DC on August 15, 2007.

This afternoon the legacy of Gabriela Mistral has begun its journey to Chile. It is already in Chilean territory. The arrival of this valuable heritage concludes the first step in its transport to our country. This August 15PthP of 2007 is a great day for Chile, for its cultural heritage and for the memory of Gabriela Mistral.

It is most fit to detail and our gratitude to all those that, after half a century since the passing of our lady poet, our first Nobel Laureate en 1945, have made possible to place in Chile her unpublished manuscripts, private and public correspondence, documents, books, photo albums, personal memorabilia, and all the belongings that she kept until she died.

Before all, our deepest and warmest gratitude goes to Doris Atkinson, Administrator for her aunt Doris Dana, universal heiress of Gabriela Mistral, who interpreting with generosity the sensibilities of Gabriela Mistral, demonstrating a great love for Chile and recognizing the importance of the legacy for our heritage and national culture, decided to donate the estate to Chile and its institutions: Dirección Nacional de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos (DIBAM), Biblioteca Nacional and the Franciscan Order in Chile. We cannot forget her great friend Susan Smith, who from the beginning had an active role so “Gabriela can come home”, a she has said.

Our acknowledgement and thanks also goes to the President of the Republic, who from the beginning gave the necessary instructions and funding so receiving the legacy in Chile could be possible. I also must thank the Minister of Culture, Paulina Urrutia, and her international advisor, Eugenio Llona, who formed the work and cooperation groups to facilitate sending the legacy to Chile and that, additionally organized the visit of Doris Atkinson, received her and showed her the country to where the wandering estate would go.

Undoubtedly I thank the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its staff for their cooperation in this endeavor, and particularly Undersecretary Alberto van Klaveren for his determination and support in operational matters. I must give my special thanks to the Director of DIBAM, Nivia Palma and to the Franciscan Order in Chile, for the trust they have given me and for the powers of attorney I hold, that have allowed me, to accept and receive the legacy in their name.

I would like to thank all the staff at the Embassy of Chile in the United States for their collaboration in such a noble task and very specially Minister Counselor Isauro Torres, who has carried the responsibility of all correspondence and dialogue in all the process and to Cultural Attaché Cristian Campos, both that have shared with me the emotive and beautiful occasion to be the first Chileans to see the entire legacy last March, at South Hadley, Massachusetts, where in such a systematic and orderly fashion Doris Atkinson brought all the documents and objects that of which the legacy is made from different and distant places in the United States. I specially thank them for their discretion, prudence and effectiveness to carry out this work, wisely avoiding numerous obstacles that may have avoided its completion.

Finally, we are all very thankful of the excellent professional work of American attorney Charles Bruce, a tax law expert, who organized legal matters flawlessly and successfully and who also counted on the rapid and efficient collaboration of Alfonso Silva, an attorney in Santiago.

All the items that comprise the legacy of Gabriela Mistral are in faultless condition at the Embassy of Chile in Washington, at a room perfectly conditioned for its conservation, and that naturally is already known as “Gabriela Mistral Room”. In the following days and by assignment of DIBAM and Biblioteca Nacional, Pedro Pablo Zegers, a serious Mistral expert, will proceed to perform a rigorous catalogue and inventory of the materials, in order to transport them to Santiago, Chile as soon as possible and thus duly and systematically place them at the disposal of the public and experts interested in the life and work of the renown Chilean – Lucila Godoy Alcayaga – the Nobel Laureate, Gabriela Mistral, who died in 1957 in New York.