Manuela Sáenz

Doña Manuela Sáenz
Libertadora del Libertador wearing the Order of the Sun medal
Born	(1797-12-27)December 27, 1797 Quito, Viceroyalty of New Granada (Present-day Ecuador)
Died	November 23, 1856(1856-11-23) (aged 58) Paita, Peru
Occupation	Revolutionary and spy
Spouse(s)	James Thorne (married 1817 – estranged 1822)
Partner(s)	Simón Bolívar (1822-1830)
Parent(s)	Simón Sáenz Vergara and Maria Joaquina Aizpuru

Doña Manuela Sáenz y Aizpuru (December 27, 1797) – November 23, 1856) was a revolutionary hero of South America who supported the revolutionary cause by gathering information, distributing leaflets, and protesting for women's rights. Manuela received the Order of the Sun ("Caballeresa del Sol" or 'Dame of the Sun'), honoring her services in the revolution.

Sáenz married a wealthy English merchant in 1817 and became a socialite in Lima, Peru. This provided the setting for involvement in political and military affairs, and she became active in support of revolutionary efforts. Leaving her husband in 1822, she soon began an eight-year collaboration and intimate relationship with Simón Bolívar that lasted until his death in 1830. After she prevented an 1828 assassination attempt against him and facilitated his escape, Bolívar began to call her "Libertadora del libertador" ("liberator of the liberator"). Manuela's role within the revolution after her death generally was overlooked until the late twentieth century, presently she is recognized as a feminist symbol of the 19th century wars of independence.

Manuela was born in Quito, the illegitimate child of Maria Joaquina Aizpuru from Ecuador and the married Spanish nobleman Simón Sáenz Vergara (or Sáenz y Verega). Her mother was abandoned by her modest family as a result of the pregnancy and young "Manuelita" went to school at the Convent of Santa Catalina where she learned to read, and write. She was forced to leave the convent at the age of seventeen, when she was discovered to have been a victim of seduction by army officer Fausto D'Elhuyar, the nephew and son of Juan José and Fausto de Elhuyar y de Suvisa, who was one of the co-discoverers of tungsten.