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

Micaela Villegas

Other names: La Perricholi

Gender:Female

Ethnic origen: Mestiza

Events:

Connections:

Biography:
A Lima mestiza also known as "La Perricholi". She was an actress and mistress of Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Juniet. She scandalised Lima society when she had his son in 1769. In 1795 she married an actor. (Knaster, 33-34.)

Two plays were written against the Viceroy and his mistress: El entremes de Juanacho y Chepe and El drama de los Palanganas.

García y García gives her year of birth as 1739. She worked as an actress from 1760-1785. She married Fermín Vicente de Echarri. She died in 1819. (García y García, 176-177)

The Viceroy began his affair with her when he was aged 70 and she was 20. She was ridiculed by the Lima aristocracy and by the clergy. (Guardia, 37)

Her name derives from the Catalan pretichol, "pretty young thing" but was corrupted by opponents of the Viceroy to Perra chola, "half-breed whore". (Campbell, 164-165)

Related to María Villegas?

References:

Campbell, Leon (1985) Women and the Great Rebellion in Peru, 1780-1783
García y García, Elvira (1924) La mujer peruana a través de los siglos
Guardia, Sara Beatriz (1985) Mujeres peruanas: El otro lado de la historia
Knaster, Meri (1977) Women in Spanish America: An Annotated Bibliography from Pre-Conquest to Contemporary Times
Socolow, Susan Migden (1999) The Women of Colonial Latin America