Goddesses and Women of Mexico
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
 Juana Asbaje, later known as Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, was born in 1651 near Mexico City, daughter of a Basque father and Mexican-born mother.
At the age of 3, she learned to read and write and by the age of 6 or 7, she had heard about the University of Mexico, and envisioned herself attending that Institute even though in those days women were not allowed to obtain any education aside from the reading and study of the Bible.
In order to pursue her dreams of higher learning, she took to dressing as a man in the hopes of thus being able to expose herself to subjects and materials not otherwise available to her.
Sor Juana began her religious life and studies at the age of 16, entering the Convent of Saint Jerome and carrying out duties as file clerk and accountant.
From 1669 to 1691 she wrote much of the literature we know today and that earned her recognition as the first female theologian of the Americas, even though these activities caused her great suffering and persecution from the parish priests and bishops of the area.
In 1695, during an outbreak of the plague, and while tending to the sick at the Convent, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz herself succumbed to the illness, passing away on the morning of April 17.
Arturo Macias's vision of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz is one of power and centeredness. Her form, beneath the squarish lines of her inscribed tunic, stands tall and firm. In her right hands she holds the book "Magint Sentencia". |
