This article analyses the reflections of Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) on classical humanism and its importance for the education of youth, through her speeches, interviews and letters written between the 1920s and 1940s. Mistral's approaches are addressed from a historical perspective, in relation to the political and cultural context of the first decades of the 20th century. Being critical of the society of her time, as well as of the discourses and practices of violence and totalitarianism that she conceived associated with masculine impulses, Mistral resorted to classical humanism to appeal for a more humane and comprehensive education with a feminine perspective.