An exploration of women's involvement in the Latin American Wars of Independence

Faustina Sarmiento de Belin

Gender:Female

Ethnic origen: White

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Biography:
Born in San Felipe Aconagua in July 1831, she was the daughter of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. Her mother died when she was young and her father took her to San Juan when she was 5 to be cared for by his mother and sisters. She was educated in the Colegio de Santa Rosa, founded by her father. She fled to San Felipe Aconagua with her grandmother and aunts in 1842 where she continued her studies. Her father travelled in Europe and the United States bringing back with him a young Frenchman, Julio Belin, who he set up in a printing business. Within a year he married Faustina Sarmiento (1848). They had 6 children. They moved back to San Juan after Rosas's fall. She was widowed in 1865 and devoted herself to working with her aunt Bienvenida. She participated in the Sociedad de Madres Cristianas, a precursor to the Sociedad de Beneficencia. She helped during the yellow fever epidemic in Buenos Aires. On 6 March 1866 she became a teacher in the Escuela Modelo, of which Bienvenida was directora. She became directora of the Escuela Superior de Niñas in 1873. She was awarded a pension of 300 pesos per month after her father died in 1888. She died in Buenos Aires on 4 December 1904. (Sosa de Newton, 586-587)

References:

Sosa de Newton, Lily (1986) Diccionario biográfico de mujeres argentinas