Margarita Madrigal

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.

Margarita continued to teach and work on new editions and manuscripts of her existing courses until the 1970s. Although she continued private lessons in her Greenwich Village apartment, she increasingly spent time at her weekend and summer home in Mystic, Connecticut. Suffering from overwork and stress, she eventually moved there on a permanent basis.

In 1957, Margarita Madrigal was successfully sued for plagiarism related to her book An Invitation to Russian. The plaintiff, a Russian-born American named Fedor I. Nikanov, alleged that Madrigal (along with her co-author, Sonia Bleeker) had infringed his copyright of a Russian language chart and material from an unpublished manuscript, which he gave to Bleeker in the hopes of coauthoring a book with her.

In the 1950s she wrote the Madrigal's Magic Key to... series, which featured more comprehensive and in-depth material than previous works. The first of these was Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish in 1955. This was followed by similar works for French in 1959, and German in 1966. These later became her best known works. She also produced accompanying audio lessons for the Spanish and French books, however, few of these were sold.

By 1941, she had already achieved wide acclaim. Soon thereafter, she began to publish her learning techniques. The first of these works became known as the An Invitation to... series, starting with Spanish and Portuguese, and followed by French, Russian, Italian, English and German. The courses quickly became bestsellers, making her one of the most popular language authors in the country.

After graduating, Margarita returned to Mexico where she studied, and later taught, at the Puebla State Teachers College. In 1940, the University of Mexico commissioned her to make a survey of the study of Spanish in the United States. She first returned to Kansas City and then toured the country to research material for her thesis. In November 1940, she went to New York City, settled in Greenwich Village, and began offering private Spanish lessons. Madrigal also lectured at the Adult Education Department in a local YWCA. There, she taught classes using her own method using a textbook she was then completing. She described it as a "streamlined," simple method whereby the student learns conversational Spanish rapidly and has fun doing so.

By 1923, her mother decided to send Margarita to live with relatives in Kansas City, fearing her daughter had forgotten too much English. There, she attended Wyandotte High School, which, she said, gave her "a little of the Kansas tradition."

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.

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