Juana Azurduy de Padilla

Juana Azurduy Llanos (July 12, 1780 or 1781 - May 25, 1862) was a South American guerrilla military leader.

She was born on July 12, 1780 or 1781 in the town of Chuquisaca, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (now Sucre, Bolivia). She was Mestiza by ethnicity, meaning she had both Spanish and indigenous ancestry. “Her mother married into a family of property” meaning she married into a more wealthy family. Her father, however, was killed by Spaniards, and the killer apparently got away without any repercussions. She grew up in Chuquisaca and at the age of 12 joined a convent to become a nun. She was then expelled at the age of 17 because she rebelled too often. She married Manuel Ascencio Padilla in 1805, a man who shared her love of the indigenous populations in Bolivia. She spoke Spanish and two South American languages: Quechua and Aymara.

Juana Azurduy was born in Toroca, a town located in the Municipality of Potosí in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (present-day town of Ravelo, Potosí Department, Bolivia) on July 12, 1780. Her parents were Don Matías Azurduy, a rich white owner of many properties and Doña Eulalia Bermudes, a chola from Chuquisaca. She was baptized in La Plata (present-day Sucre, Chuqisaca) . She grew up in Chuquisaca and began her education at the age of 12 in the prestigious Convento de Santa Teresa de Chuquisaca to become a monk and spoke Spanish as well as Quechua. Due to her rebellious temperament, she was expelled from the convent at the age of 17.

In 1805, at the age of 25, Juana married Manuel Ascencio Padilla.

...
Wikipedia