Manuela Cañizares (1769-1814) was an Ecuadorian salonist and heroine of independence.

Life

Cañizares was the host of a popular

literary salon A salon is a gathering of people held by a host. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" (Latin: ''aut delectare aut prodesse''). Salons in the tradition of the Fren ...

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

from about 1797, which was a center of the city's intellectual life. On 9–10 August 1809, Manuela Cañizares hosted the famous meeting between the Ecuadorian rebels, which resulted in the formation of the first rebel government,

Junta Autonoma de Quito Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by a ...

, and declaration of independence in her salon. She was not only the host of the meeting, but an active participant in it, and reputedly a leading and driving force behind the revolution.

Death

She was sentenced to death in absentia by the Spanish authorities and went into hiding during the war.
Little is known of the rest of her life. She made her will on 27 August 1814, and from that document it is known that her last days were spent as a victim of the consequences of an accident, that she was single and without children, that she earned her living by making lace and renting suits that were used for festivals, and that she owned the Cotocollao farm where she raised cattle.De Guzmán Polanco, Manuel (2006). Manuela Cañizares, la heroína de la Independencia del Ecuador (Primera edición). Quito: Comisión Nacional Permanente de Conmemoraciones Cívicas. ISBN 9978-45-199-4. Historians agree that she died 5 months after making her will, on 15 December 1814.

Legacy

In 1901, President

Eloy Alfaro José Eloy Alfaro Delgado (25 June 1842 – 28 January 1912) often referred to as "The Old Warrior," was an Ecuadorian politician who served as the President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911. Eloy Alfaro emerged as the leader ...

named the first school for women in Ecuador "Manuela Cañizares" after her.

References

* Salazar Garcés, Sonia; Sevilla Naranjo, Alexandra (2009). Mujeres de la Revolución de Quito (Primera edición). Quito: FONSAL. pp. 81–88. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Canizares, Manuela 1769 births 1814 deaths Viceroyalty of New Granada people 19th-century Ecuadorian people 18th-century Ecuadorian people 18th-century Ecuadorian women Ecuadorian salon-holders