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

Ildefonsa Laura César

Gender:Female

Ethnic origen: White

Events:

Connections:

Biography:
Ildefonsa Laura César was born in Bahia in 1794, the daughter of Antônio César Caminha. Little is known about her parents or early family life, although her level of education is taken as an indication that the family was part of the Bahian elite. César was orphaned at some point in her childhood and was brought up by her sister Angélica Rosa César (Muzart, 145).

As a young woman she lived for a while with the doctor, writer, and politician José Coutinho, whilst he was studying Medicine. The couple had a daughter, Cora, but the relationship did not last. It is not known why they never married, or why they separated. Coutinho placed Cora in the care of a governess and César’s sadness at the loss of her partner and her daughter is present in much of her poetry. It was only after Coutinho’s death in 1836 that César married Manuel Gomes Tourinho, a major in the National Guard (Muzart, 146). The date of her death is unknown.

Her published works are:
Lição a meus filhos, oferecido a Ilma. Sra. D. Angelica Roza Cezar, 1843
Ensaios poéticos, dedicados em signal de muita estima à sua irman a Senhora D. Angelica Roza Cezar, Bahia, 1844

References:

Muzart, Zahidé Lupinacci (editor). (2000) Escritoras Brasileiras do Século XIX
Blake, A V A Sacramento (1895) Diccionario Bibliographico Brazileiro