Lenka Franulic (22 July 1908 – 25 May 1961) was a Chilean

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and the first Chilean woman to be formally recognised as such. She was awarded the National Prize for Journalism, in the Feature category, in 1957.

Biography

Descendant of Croatian immigrants both on the paternal and maternal sides, she was the daughter of Mateo Franulic Jerkovic and Zorka Zlatar Janovic. She was the eldest of two sisters, the youngest of whom, Dobrila, was an outstanding

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. Her father died of kidney disease when she was 9 years old and her sister, 3. She moved to Santiago to study English at the Pedagogical Institute of the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. Later, she obtained a job as a translator in ''Hoy'' Magazine, where she did her first articles, of a cultural nature. At ''Ercilla'' magazine, she became an interviewer, and later made radio appearances. In 1945 she was the director of Radio Nuevo Mundo and, later, a reporter for the "Nacional", "

Cooperativa Radio Cooperativa is a radio station in Chile, based in Santiago. It is operated by ''Compañía Chilena de Comunicaciones S.A.''. The station is notable for opposing the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973–1990) and denouncing its human rights v ...

", " Agricultura" and " Minería" stations. She interviewed various figures of her time, such as

Jean Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French phi ...

, Marshal

Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 until his death ...

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

Nicolás Guillén Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista (10 July 1902 – 16 July 1989) was a Cuban poet, journalist and political activist. He is best remembered as the national poet of Cuba.

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

, Anastasio Somoza,

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator, and Catholic. She was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order or Third Franciscan order. She was ...

Emil Ludwig Emil Ludwig (25 January 1881 – 17 September 1948) was a German-Swiss author, known for his biographies and study of historical "greats." Biography Emil Ludwig (originally named Emil Cohn) was born in Breslau (now part of Poland) on 25 Ja ...

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

, and

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

. The most important characteristic of her work as a journalist was that her articles were aimed at capturing the opinions of these characters, raising the respective criticisms of those, in order to analyze the social and political course of the moment, beyond just highlighting the trajectory, contributions and merits of those he interviewed. She created the ''Círculo de Periodistas de Santiago'' and, in 1953, participated in the founding of the School of Journalism of the University of Chile. She obtained the National Prize for Journalism (Feature category) in 1957. In turn, she was awarded Best Journalist of the Year by the Society of Women Professional Journalists of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the only Chilean to have received this honor. Suffering from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

, she died at dawn on Thursday, 25 May 1961, at the age of 52. Her funerals were attended by numerous personalities and their friends, such as the then president of Chile,

Jorge Alessandri Jorge Eduardo Alessandri Rodríguez (; 19 May 1896 – 31 August 1986) was the 26th president of Chile from 1958 to 1964, and was the candidate of the Chilean right in the crucial presidential election of 1970, which he lost to Salvador A ...

. Her burial place is in the Yugoslav mausoleum of the

Santiago General Cemetery The Santiago General Cemetery () in Santiago, Chile, is one of the largest cemeteries in Latin America with an estimated two million burials. The cemetery was established in 1821 after Chile's independence when Bernardo O'Higgins inaugurated the ...

. Under an enormous stone head sculpted by the artist

Lily Garafulic Lily Garafulic Yankovic (May 14, 1914 – March 15, 2012) was a Chilean sculptor, a member of the Generation of 40 (''Generación del 40'') artists, and museum director. Garafulic was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in New York City in 19 ...

, there is a tombstone that contains a phrase from the speech that

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

wrote for his great friend: ''"Eras presencia de mujeres y lección para un millón de hombres"'' (You were a presence for women and a lesson for a million men).

Legacy

Since 1963, the National Association of Women Journalists of Chile has awarded the Lenka Franulic Award, in recognition of career achievement in women's journalism. On 22 July 2023, Franulic's 115th birthday was celebrated through a

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Works

Publications

*In 1939, Franulic published her first book, "One Hundred Contemporary Artists", with portraits of prominent writers of the time. *In 1943, she published the "Anthology of the American Short Story." *She wrote one short story, "Two Cents of Violets", the only one that has been found.

Translations

*"Kitty Foyle" by

Christopher Morley Christopher Darlington Morley (May 5, 1890 – March 28, 1957) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet. He also produced stage productions for a few years and gave college lectures.

*"Boarding School" by Christa Winsloe *"Harvey" by Mary Chase *"The Waves" and "Intermission" by

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

*"Joseph Provider" by

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

*"Has the Moon" by

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

*"Charley's Aunt" by

Brandon Thomas Brandon Thomas may refer to: *Brandon Thomas (playwright) (1848–1914), English actor and playwright who wrote the hit farce, ''Charley's Aunt'' * Brandon Thomas (musician) (born 1980), American rock band singer *Brandon Thomas (American football) ...

*"The Lovers Terribles" and "Mischievous Spirit" by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franulic, Lenka 1908 births 1961 deaths Chilean women journalists University of Chile alumni Chilean people of Croatian descent People from Antofagasta 20th-century Chilean women writers