This Academy was created on June 5, 1885, in Santiago. In chronological terms, it was the sixth such academy established in Latin America.
Its purposes are:
1. to ensure the purity and splendor of the Spanish language;
2. to collaborate with the projects of the Royal Spanish Academy and the Association of Spanish Language Academies, and
3. to provide assistance to all types of institutions on issues related to language and Spanish literature, especially in Chile.
One of its main publications is the Bulletin, which first appeared in 1915.
In 1976, it published the Dictionary of Chilean Speech. In 2001, it published the progress of the “Dictionary of the Use of Spanish in Chile (DUECh). A Lexical Sample” and in 2010 it followed that up by publishing the final version:” Dictionary of the Use of Spanish in Chile (DUECh).”
From 1995 to 2005, the academy published the bulletin titled “Language Notes”, with guidelines on the use of language.
In 1985, it began a series of Centennial Notebooks to disseminate and pay tribute to the illustrious deceased members and specialized work of some academics.
Since 1916, the academy celebrates Language Day on April 23, the anniversary of the death of Cervantes.
It hands out 4 awards each year:
1. Academia (Academy), which honors the author of the best work published in Chile;
2. Alejandro Silva de la Fuente, which is awarded to a journalist known for the proper use of language in their work;
3. Alonso de Ercilla, granted for the relevant contribution to knowledge and dissemination of Chilean literature; and
4. Dr. Rodolfo Oroz, which is given to authors of scientific studies on language.
Gabriela Mistral, whose real name was Lucila de Maria del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga, had a difficult childhood growing up in one of the most desolate places in Chile. At 15, her poetry won a place in the local press and sher began her studies in teaching. She fell for a modest railway employee who committed suicide for unknown reasons shortly after. This tragedy did, however, result in her first important work.
She was a consul in Naples, Lisbon and New York. In 1945, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Ambrosio Rabanales Ortiz, writer and philologist, was professor of “Synchronous Spanish Grammar” at the University of Chile and director of the Institute of Philology. He served as president of both the “Commission of grammar” of the Chilean Language Academy and in the Chilean Society of Linguistics. He was appointed honorary member of the International Committee of Onomastic Sciences in Belgium.
He was also a tireless researcher of language disorders, especially aphasia, neurolinguistics, linguistic structuralism and Spanish phonology in Chile.