Day 9: Juana Ramirez!
Juana Ramirez was born into slavery near Maturín, in what is now Venezuela; her mother’s name was Guadelupe, and her father most likely General Andrès Rojas, Guadelupe’s enslaver. Juana, however, was freed at a young age, and taken under the wing of Doña Teresa Ramírez de Valderrama. It was an age of revolution. In 1810, when Juana was twenty, provinces in Venezuela began to declare independence from Spain, and soon the territory was engulfed in war. Many around Juana, including General Rojàs, were active in the movement, and Juana herself was a passionate advocate of independence. She rallied a women’s militia company, which became an artillery unit.
At the Third Battle of Maturín, heavily outnumbered, the rebels faced a brutal fight. Juana earned the nickname of “La Advanzadora” for her bold advance, and her all-female cannoneers proved instrumental in the victory - though the Spanish authorities soon struck back. Maturín was razed, and Juana retreated into the hills with other rebel survivors, where, refusing to surrender, she continued a guerilla campaign.
As part of Gran Colombia, Venezuela won its independence by 1821, though it would only be officially recognized by Spain in 1845. Juana married another soldier, and the couple would have four children together; she died in 1856. In 2001, she was inducted into the National Pantheon, and in 2015, her remains were moved to a tomb in the National Mausoleum of Heroes.
