Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
The Fearless Educator | 1664
What does she mean to act like a girl? Uuma takes Sarah and Flashback all the way back to the year 1664 to meet Juana Ines de la Cruz as she is about to be tested by the top scholars of the Spain and Mexico. A fierce advocate for women’s education, Juana proves her superior intelligence and encourages Sarah that being smart is something to be proud of.
About Juana Ines de la Cruz
Juana Inés Ramírez was born in 1648 on the farmstead of San Miguel Nepantla on the slopes of the Popocatépetl volcano. She learnt to read very early and had a great appetite for knowledge. When she was six or seven, she begged her mother to let her dress up in men's clothes and allow her to go and study in Mexico University, which only men were allowed to attend. When she was eight, Juana was sent to live with her aunt in Mexico City; by then, rumors of her prodigious intellect had spread to the capital. At 20, Juana entered the Convent of the Order of St. Jerome. There, she collected a library of over 4,000 books, wrote poetry, carols, and plays that were published and widely read. Sor Juana defended the intellectual rights of women and the rights of women to have access to education.