Manuela Sáenz

Manuela Sáenz was born in Quito on December 27, 1797. Active in the patriotic conspiracy in Lima where San Martín awarded her the Order of the Sun, Sáenz met Simón Bolívar during his triumphal entry into Quito on June 16, 1822.

Becoming Bolívar's intellectual partner and chief archivist, she donned cavalry uniform and rode into combat, earning promotion to Colonel at the decisive Battle of Ayacucho in 1824. On September 25, 1828, in Bogotá, she drew her sword against assassins, allowing Bolívar to escape out the palace window. Exiled to the desert port of Paita, she died in poverty in 1856.