Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Juana Ramírez de Asbaje faced a panel of theologians, jurists, and mathematicians.
The viceroy of New Spain organized the event to test her knowledge.
She successfully answered complex equations and philosophical questions.
Observers likened her defense to "a royal galleon fending off a few canoes."

Born in mid-17th century Mexico, a Spanish colony with a stratified class system.
Her maternal grandparents were Spanish, placing them in Mexico's elite class.
Juana was born out of wedlock; her father, a Spanish military captain, left her mother, Doña Isabel.
Her grandfather's wealth allowed for a comfortable life.
Doña Isabel managed one of her father’s estates, setting an example of female strength, despite illiteracy and misogyny.

At age three, she secretly attended school with her older sister.
Denied higher education due to gender, she studied in her grandfather’s library.
Mastered philosophical debate, Latin, and Nahuatl by adolescence.
Her intellect drew attention from the royal court in Mexico City.
At sixteen, she became lady-in-waiting to the viceroy and his wife.
Her plays and poems sparked both admiration and outrage.
Her poem "Foolish Men" criticized sexist double standards.
She received marriage proposals but prioritized knowledge.

The Church offered independence and respectability in a patriarchal society.
At 20, she entered the Hieronymite Convent of Santa Paula, becoming Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
She wrote dramas, comedies, and treatises on philosophy and mathematics, as well as religious music and poetry.
Sor Juana built a large library and was visited by scholars.
She served as the convent’s treasurer and archivist.
She protected her niece's and sisters' livelihoods from exploitation.

In 1690, a bishop published Sor Juana’s critique of a sermon, urging her to focus on prayer.
Sor Juana defended women's intellect as a gift from God.
The conservative Archbishop of Mexico intervened, leading to a loss of prestige.
She was forced to sell her books and stop writing.
She renewed her vows, signing “I, the worst of all,” in her own blood as an act of defiance.

Sor Juana dedicated herself to charity work.
She died in 1695 from an illness contracted while nursing her sisters.
Recognized as the first feminist in the Americas.
Subject of documentaries, novels, and operas.
Featured on Mexico’s 200-peso banknote.
Octavio Paz: “It is not enough to say that Sor Juana’s work is a product of history; we must add that history is also a product of her work.”