Juana Inés de la Cruz, a nun who wanted to give voice to women

Text published on the website of the director Janet K Howe (Great Britain), freely translated by Silvia Lanzi

Juana Inés de la Cruz, Lesbian and feminist nun of New Spain (Mexico). This woman was incredible! Born in 1648, she was the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish captain and a Creola woman. In that historical period there was a very sexist and racist classes, and being a "bastard" daughter was certainly not an advantage for Juana.

But Juana Inés was intelligent and very intelligent. At three he was already able to read, and eight had already written his first poetry, he taught Latin to thirteen and had learned the na wat ul (or nahuatl), an Aztec language. He was self -taught and devoured the books of the grandfather's library.

At sixteen Juana Inés was sent by the countryside where he lived in Mexico City, the most important center of the new Spain. He prayed that they would allow her to dress like a boy to be able to go to university: his mother told her no, so Juana Inés continued to educate herself on her own. Later he became court lady, immediately entering the favors of the viceroy and his wife.

It is known that the viceroy had the knowledge of Juana Inés tests from forty of the greatest contemporary scholars, and that she left them speechless! This examination, together with his writings, made it very popular and famous during the period passed to court. He received many marriage proposals, which he refused, and then entered the convent at nineteen years, so that nothing could distract her from his studies.

In this period he devoted himself entirely to writing and study. In his library he accumulated more than 4,000 books, and he gave a conspicuous hand corpus literary that includes poetry, philosophy, theology and theatrical works. His works contain many messages in favor of women and natives. Of his poetry, a conspicuous part is aimed at praising the beauty of several women. His letters and poems for the viceregine Maria Luisa denotes a particular devotion. The viceregine published the corpus of works by Juana Inés, thus saving her works from destruction.

In 1690, after more than twenty years of monastic life, his bishop published his criticism of a sermon of forty years earlier, and published it with the pseudonym of Sister Filotea, together with a letter in which he pretended to be another nun who criticized Juana Inés. The letter attacked it by saying that it would have to think of religion rather than centuries -old studies, and also proposed the main opinion of the time, namely that women were intellectually lower than men and that they should not have allowed them to learn to write.

Juana Inés de la Cruz he got a long time, and replied with a letter, Instituctor by Sor Filotea de la Cruz, to be read as a sort of feminist manifesto. Juana Inés defends the right of women to learn, and declares that they are equally capable of intelligent thought. He asks for women teachers to avoid the danger of having male teachers near young students, and also cites the famous phrase of Santa Teresa d'EVILA: "You can perfectly think of philosophy while cooking dinner".

Just even to say, the church does not like the letter. A few years later, it seemed that Juana Inés had abandoned all her books and her scientific material: she probably stopped writing to avoid further punishment and censorship. But ... if you haven't already done so, you may find a secret escort of books under his desk.

He died in 1695, while taking care of the other nuns affected by the plague. After his death they discovered, hidden in his cell, more than one hundred volumes and many packages of writings, all complete and in succession. Despite his apparently change, Juana Inés de la Cruz's love for writing and knowledge had remained intact.

His writings are studied and appreciated still today, especially as regards his feminist sensitivity and the commitment to respect the natives. Scattered throughout Mexico there are many monuments dedicated to Juana Inés, and her face is printed on 200 pesos banknotes. Rightly, the convent in which he lived now is a university that bears his name.

Now, it is better to put everything back as it was, so that no one else knows.

Original text: Juana Inés de la Cruz 1648-1695