Editing Gabriela Mistral (section)

== Death, posthumous tributes and legacy ==
During the 1970s and 1980s, the [[Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–90)|military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet]] appropriated Gabriela Mistral's image, portraying her as a symbol of "submission to authority" and "social order."<ref name="Tiempo">{{cite news |date=7 June 2003 |title=Gabriela Mistral: poeta y lesbiana |work=El Tiempo |url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-995948 |access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref> Author Licia Fiol-Matta challenged the traditional views of Mistral as a saint-like [[Celibacy|celibate]] and suffering heterosexual woman, suggesting that she was a [[lesbian]] instead. In 2007, after the death of Mistral's alleged last romantic partner, Doris Dana, her archive was discovered, containing letters exchanged between Mistral and various occasional female lovers. The publication of these letters in the book ''Niña errante'' (2007), edited by Pedro Pablo Zegers, supported the notion of a long-lasting romantic relationship between Mistral and Dana during Mistral's final years. The letters were later translated into English by Velma García and published by the [[University of New Mexico Press]] in 2018.
Despite these claims, Doris Dana, who was 31 years younger than Mistral, explicitly denied in her final interview that their relationship was ever romantic or erotic, describing it as that of a stepmother and stepdaughter. Dana also denied being a lesbian and expressed skepticism regarding Mistral's sexual orientation.

Mistral suffered from [[diabetes]] and heart problems, and she ultimately died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 67 on 10 January 1957,<ref name=":0" /> in Hempstead Hospital on Long Island, New York, with Doris Dana by her side.

On 7 April 2015, [[Google]] commemorated Gabriela Mistral's 126th birthday, honoring the Chilean poet and educator with a special [[Google Doodle|doodle]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gabriela Mistral's 126th Birthday |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/gabriela-mistrals-126th-birthday/ |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=www.google.com |language=en}}</ref>