Varios

MANUELITA SAENZ

Manuela was born in Quito, the illegitimate child of the married Spanish nobleman Simón Sáenz Vergara (or Sáenz y Verega) and Maria Joaquina Aizpuru from Ecuador. Her mother wasabandoned by her modest family and young "Manuelita" went to school at the Convent of Santa Catalina where she learned to read, to write and express herself.
For several years, she lived with herfather, who in 1817 arranged her marriage to a wealthy English merchant, James Thorne, twice her age. They moved to Lima, Peru, in 1819 where she lived as an aristocrat and held social gatherings in herhome where guests included political leaders and military officers. These guests shared military secrets about the ongoing revolution with her, and, in 1819, when Simón Bolívar took part in thesuccessful liberation of New Granada, Manuela Sáenz became an active member in the conspiracy, she sympathized with the rebels and she joined them to liberate Lima and Peru. In 1822, she left Thorne andreturned to Quito. It was there that she met Simón Bolívar.
Although Simón was about 15 years older than she, there was an instant mutual attraction. They fell in love. Manuela and Simón did not get tosee one another as much as they would have liked, as he allowed her to come on many, but not all, of his campaigns. They exchanged letters and saw each other when they could. It wasn’t until 1825-1826that they actually lived together for a time.
During many years she supported the revolutionary cause by gathering information, distributing leaflets and protesting for women's rights. As one of thefirst women involved, Manuela received the "Order of the Sun" "Caballeresa del Sol", honoring her services in the revolution.
On September 25, 1828, Simón and Manuela were in Bogotá, in the San CarlosPalace. Bolívar’s enemies, who did not want to see him retain political power now that the armed struggle for independence was winding down, sent assassins to murder him in the night. Manuela,...