The Forgotten Female Revolutionaries Behind Latin American Independence

In Atlas Obscura's Q&A series She Was There, we talk to female scholars who are writing long-forgotten women back into history.

On the evening of September 25, 1828, a letter was received from her lover. Would she come to the palace if he wasn't feeling well? The Palacio de San Carlos in Bogot was where she found the revolutionary Simón Bolívar feverish. He slipped into the bath and she read him poetry. They climbed into the bed and fell asleep. The dogs were barking and the sound of footsteps woke Senz up.

There were 26 assassins that came for Bolívar. Twice Sáenz persuaded Bolívar to stay out of the hall. He finally agreed to jump out the window. When the assassins burst into Bol's room, they found only one person. She gave confusing answers. The conspirators beat her with their swords. It was the second time that Sáenz saved Bol.

Saving Bol's life multiple times wasn't the only thing that made him extraordinary. Sáenz was against societal convention. She was a spy. She protested for women's rights. She wore a custom-made uniform. She loved dogs and had a pet bear. Bolívar referred to his mistress as "that gentle, crazy woman" in a letter and eventually gave her an official government position.

Pamula S. Murray, a 19th-century Latin American scholar from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has resurrected Sáenz from obscurity after more than 150 years. Atlas Obscura talked with Murray about the women that fueled Latin America's independence movements, and how Hillary Clinton inspired her to write a biography about her.

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Why did you care so much about her?

She played a role in the Latin American independence movement led by Simón Bolívar. I had never heard of women being involved in political life before she became part of his inner circle. This was a time of revolution and they generally were not. I think the revolution opened up some spaces for women.

Simón Bolívar and Sáenz met in Quito. She was one of his strongest defenders. She helped put him back in power by overthrowing the regime in Bogot. His enemies became her enemies. After a few years, they accused her of being a spy and exiled her to Peru. She was still politically active even in exile. She kept in touch with many of Bol's old lieutenants. I found a bunch of letters between her and the person who became president of the country.

How did the independence movements in Latin America affect women?

Women are playing active roles on both sides of the rebellion against the Spanish. They were spies. They treated soldiers and cooked their meals. The main conspirators against the Spanish regime were upper-class women. The first rebellions were hatched in their homes. They shared information. They were arms traffickers.

It's not surprising that someone like Manuela would show up in this situation. She became involved with the most famous leader of the independence movement in South America. She has gotten as much attention as she has, but behind her were a lot of other women.

Can you tell me about Sáenz's personality?

She was bold. You could even say that. She was out there in a way that other women weren't. She wore a colonel's style military uniform when she was living in BogotE1; she was asked to rejoin him. She knew how to throw a good party. She had a lot of friends. She was a liar. She said in one of her letters that she loved laughter and a good joke.

The most dramatic example of her assertive personality was when Bolívar went off into exile. His enemies began to call him names in the press. She found graffiti accusing him of wanting to be a monarch and her of wanting to be his consort. She put on her uniform, got on her horse, and with her servants went to where the graffiti was in the main plaza of Bogot. She threatened to shoot down the pieces of paper that had the caricatures on them unless the police moved out of the way. She was not afraid to confront people who were against her.

How did the treatment of modern women in power prompt you to write?

I wanted to write this book because I couldn't ignore what was happening with Hillary Clinton when Bill Clinton was president. The healthcare reform plan was put together by Hillary Clinton. She was criticized for that. She was a lightning rod for Republican criticisms of the Clinton administration because she was his partner. She was criticized for the way she fixed her hair. I remember thinking that she is a powerful woman. She is doing things that first ladies don't usually do and people just can't get over it. A woman in a place where people didn't think a woman should be had influence from behind the scenes.

We claim to accept women with political power more than we did 200 years ago. This fear of women being close to power, having political influence, being on the inside, has not gone away, in the case of Hillary Clinton. A lot of people don't like it.

Why have women like her been overlooked?

The difficulty of finding source material is one of the most basic reasons. The literacy level for women in 19th-century Latin America was low. You can't find the letters in England or the United States because only the very elite had access to an education. It is hard to find letters. Not many survived.

There is a mythology that grew up around her. She is an eccentric woman. She is called a slut. There is a black and white image of her. You were not looking at the real person when you praised or criticized her. I was trying to get at who she was as a person and cut through some of the mythology.