Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Juana Ramírez de Asbaje was born in San Miguel Nepantla, in New Spain, in 1648 or in 1651 depending on the sources, the natural daughter of a Basque, Pedro Manuel de Asbaje. Almost self-taught, eager for knowledge from childhood, she was received at the viceroy's court, then entered religious life in order to be able to study: with the Carmelites in 1667, with the Hieronymites in 1669. Her writings, published in Spain by her patrons, made her famous; in 1691, replying to a bishop who reproached her for secular letters, she defended women's right to knowledge. She died in Mexico City on 17 April 1695, during an epidemic.

In the catalogue 1

• PoetryFirst DreamPrimero sueñoSor Juana Inés de la Cruz · 1692LiteraturePublic domain