Sor Juana

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, O.S.H.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz by Miguel Cabrera
Born	Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana 29 February 1651 San Miguel Nepantla, New Spain, Spanish Empire
Died	17 April 1695(1695-04-17) (aged 43) Mexico City, New Spain, Spanish Empire
Occupation	Nun, poet, writer
Nationality	Mexican
Literary movement	Baroque
Relatives	Pedro Manuel de Asbaje and Isabel Ramírez (parents)
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Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, O.S.H. (English: Sister Joan Agnes of the Cross; 12 November 1651 – 17 April 1695), was a self-taught scholar, philosopher and poet of the Baroque school, and Hieronymite nun of New Spain, known in her lifetime as "The Tenth Muse", "The Phoenix of America", or the "Mexican Phoenix".

Sor Juana lived during Mexico's colonial period, making her a contributor both to early Mexican literature as well as to the broader literature of the Spanish Golden Age. Beginning her studies at a young age, Sor Juana was fluent in Latin and Nahuatl, and became known for her philosophy in her teens. After joining a nunnery in 1667, Sor Juana began writing poetry and prose dealing with such topics as love, feminism, and religion. Her criticism of misogyny and the hypocrisy of men led to her condemnation by the Bishop of Puebla, and in 1694 she was forced to sell her collection of books and focus on charity towards the poor. She died the next year, having caught the plague while treating her fellow nuns.

She was born Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana in San Miguel Nepantla (now called Nepantla de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in her honor) near Mexico City. She was the illegitimate child of a Spanish Captain, Pedro Manuel de Asbaje, and a Criolla woman, Isabel Ramírez. Her father, according to all accounts, was absent from her life. She was baptized 2 December 1651 and described on the baptismal rolls as "a daughter of the Church". She was raised in Amecameca, where her maternal grandfather owned an hacienda.