Margarita Madrigal

Margarita Madrigal (May 15, 1912 – July 23, 1983) was a Costa Rican American author and language teacher best known for the Madrigal's Magic Key to... and An Invitation to... series. During her career, she wrote 25 books covering seven languages.

Biography

Background

Margarita Madrigal's parents met in Kansas City while her father, Ezequías Madrigal (an operatic baritone from Costa Rica) was on tour in the United States. Before he was set to perform, his accompanist became ill. When he heard that a local girl, Carolyn Wilhelm of Winchester, Kansas, was an excellent concert pianist, he communicated to her to perform with him for the evening. She initially refused, but agreed after being asked in person. "The romance went on from there," as Margarita related in an interview.

Early life

Margarita Madrigal was born on May 15, 1912, in Alajuela, Costa Rica. She was followed by a sister, Marcella, and a brother, Miguel. During her childhood, Margarita moved many times with her family following her father's performances and teaching assignments across Latin America. By the time Margarita was 11, she had lived in Mexico and five Central American countries.

Since Madrigal did not know Russian, not even simple sentences, she had to rely on Bleeker for translations. The book contained presentations of the Russian alphabet, expressions, cognate words, and even similar drawings. Although this amounted to only a small part of An Invitation to Russian, it formed a large part of Nikanov's work. Damages of $5,000 were awarded to Nikanov. What ultimately became of this manuscript is unknown.

Margarita moved away from Mystic in 1979, relocating to Stamford, Connecticut. She died at her home there on July 23, 1983, following a battle with throat cancer. She was survived by her sister, Marcella of Puebla, Mexico.

Despite her publishing success and public acclaim throughout her career, Madrigal's legacy effectively ended with her death; with relatively little subsequent media attention. With the exception of some Spanish-language materials, her works have remained largely out of print since their initial publication.

Personal life

While growing up, Margarita Madrigal received a thorough Pan-American background and learned to know and love the music, culture and customs of all the countries she lived in. Her mother taught all of her children English and instilled some of her Kansas background. They learned Spanish naturally and, from their father, a facility with languages.

From both parents, Margarita developed a special love and talent for music. She also made an intensive study of the folk music of Latin America, as well as the European classics and native United States folk songs. After classes, she would bring out her guitar, named Valentina, and play Latin American music to her students.