Baltasara Calderón de Rocafuerte

Other names/titles:
Gender: F
Ethnic origin: White

Biographical details

She was born in Cuenca, Ecuador, in 1806, the daughter of pro-independence Manuela Garaicoa de Calderón and Francisco García Calderón. She moved to Guayaquil with her mother in 1812 after the death of her father.

In 1826 Simón Bolívar wrote to her mother joking that he had sent a copy of his Bolivian Constitution to Baltasara expecting her to memorise it so he could hear from her "bella boca la reprodución de mis ideas". (Davies et al, 35)

She married President Vicente Rocafuerte in 1842 (he died in 1847 in Lima). In 1846 and 1849 she wrote from Lima to Roberto de Ascásubi expressing concern about the political situation in Ecuador. After the death of her husband she dedicated herself to public works. She gave large donations to social institutions and to education centres. She died in 1890. (Estrada, 39-41)

Life Events

Other	1846	She wrote letters expressing concern about the political situation in Ecuador.
Other	1847	She was widowed in 1847.

References

Knaster, Meri, (1977), Women in Spanish America: An Annotated Bibliography from Pre-Conquest to Contemporary Times

Estrada, Jenny, (1984), Mujeres de Guayaquil, siglo XVI al siglo XX

Davies, Catherine, Brewster, Claire and Owen, Hilary, (2006), South American Independence. Gender, Politics, Text

Publications

Academic Journal Paper: Cartas de la viuda Rocafuerte

Links

Resource id #27 (10)

Resource id #31 (46)

Gendering Latin American Independence

School of Modern Languages and Cultures
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telephone: +44 (0)115 951 5655
email: Catherine.davies@nottingham.ac.uk