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

Francisco Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo (María Chiriboga)

Gender:Male

Ethnic origen: Mestizo

Events:

Connections:

Biography:
Born in 1747, he founded Quito's first paper in 1791. He was a writer who had until then published his books clandestinely. The paper was authorised by the government, and did not attack the Spanish government. On 21 October 1794, red flags with white stripes were raised in Quito with Latin inscriptions "Liber esto felicitaten et gloriam consequto" and "Salve Cruce". He was accused of being behind the action and was imprisoned. He was released around 21 December 1795, seriously ill, and died a week later. He is considered to be the founder of the Ecuadorian press and the precursor of independence. (Romero Castillo, x-xii)

Clément says he was born in 1740. He was Secretary of the Sociedad Patriótica de Amigos del País de Quito in 1791-92. He supported independence and popular government. In 1781 he expressed enthusiasm for the Túpac Amaru rebellion. The Sociedad subscribed to El Mercurio Peruano. (Clément, 128)

In 1787 he wrote Las cartas Riobambenses, under the pseudonym María Chiriboga (the name of a Riobamba woman, who was married to a Spanish captain). She then accused him of libel through the courts. (Ochoa, 99-121)

Rodríguez describes him as an "Indian-mulato scholar" who formed the first public library Spanish America (Quito) from the former Jesuit collections. He edited Primicias de la Cultura de Quito to demonstrate the city's wealth and culture. (Rodríguez, 18)

In 1779 he published Nuevo Luciano o despertador de ingenios, a satire critical of Ecuador's education system. He wrote a satire against a Spanish minister, which resulted in a year in prison and exile to Bogotá. In Bogotá he wrote in favour of independence. (Coester, 35)

Franco gives his year of birth as 1747 and describes him as an Ecuadorian "thinker" who wrote the "early works of literary independence". (Franco, 25)

References:

Clément, Jean-Pierre (1979) Indices del Mercurio Peruano, 1790-1795
Coester, Alfred (1919) The Literary History of Spanish America
Franco, Jean R.O. Jones (editor). (1973) Spanish American Literature Since Independence
Ochoa, Nancy A. (1987) La mujer en el pensamiento liberal
Rodríguez O., Jaime E. (1998) The Independence of Spanish America
Romero Castillo, Abel (1981) El Patriota de Guayaquil y otros impresos, Volúmen I: 1821