![]() These guests shared military secrets about the ongoing revolution with her, and, in 1819, when Simón Bolívar took part in the successful liberation of New Granada, Manuela Sáenz was radicalized and an active member in the conspiracy against the viceroy of Perú, José de la Serna e Hinojosa during 1820. ![]() The couple moved to Lima, Peru, in 1819 where she lived as an aristocrat and held social gatherings in her home where guests included political leaders and military officers. Early participation within the revolution įor several years, Manuela lived with her father, who in 1817 arranged for her marriage to a wealthy English doctor, James Thorne, who was twice her age. She was forced to leave the convent at the age of seventeen, allegedly because she was discovered to have been seduced by army officer Fausto D'Elhuyar, the son of Fausto Elhuyar and nephew of Juan José Elhuyar, who were the co-discoverers of tungsten. She kept in contact with the upper class nuns of Santa Catalina for much of the rest of her life, and they provided counsel to her. While there, she encountered a microcosm of the Spanish colonial caste system, with white nuns ruling over a large group of mestiza and native servants and maids. Her mother was abandoned by her modest family as a result of the pregnancy and her father paid for young "Manuelita" to go to school at the Convent of Santa Catalina where she learned to read and write. Manuela was born in Quito, the illegitimate child of Maria Joaquina Aizpuru from Ecuador and the married Spanish nobleman Simón Sáenz de Vergara y Yedra (or Sáenz y Verega). Manuela's role in the revolution after her death was generally overlooked until the late twentieth century, but now she is recognized as a feminist symbol of the 19th century wars of independence. ![]() After she prevented an 1828 assassination attempt against him and facilitated his escape, Bolívar began to call her " Libertadora del libertador" ("liberator of the liberator"). Leaving her husband in 1822, she soon began an eight-year collaboration and intimate relationship with Simón Bolívar that lasted until his death in 1830. ![]() This provided the setting for involvement in political and military affairs, and she became active in support of revolutionary efforts. Sáenz married a wealthy English doctor in 1817 and became a socialite in Lima, Peru. Manuela received the Order of the Sun (" Caballeresa del Sol" or 'Dame of the Sun'), honoring her services in the revolution. Manuela Sáenz de Vergara y Aizpuru (27 December 1797 – 23 November 1856) was an Ecuadorian revolutionary heroine of South America who supported the revolutionary cause by gathering information, distributing leaflets and protesting for women's rights. ![]()
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