Javiera Carrera
Javiera Carrera | |
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Santiago, Chile |
Francisca Xaviera Eudoxia Rudecinda Carmen de los Dolores de la Carrera y Verdugo (March 1, 1781 – August 20, 1862), better known as Javiera Carrera, was a Chilean independence activist. Together with her brothers
She was a member of one of the most aristocratic Chilean families, the
Life
She was born in
During the time of the Patria Vieja ("Old Republic"), she became the firmest supporter of her family in their struggle to achieve an independent Chile. This struggle for independence affected many Chilean families, leading to politics being introduced into family dynamics. The Carreras were no exception, and she took many actions to support her family's goals. Women often acted as couriers, petitioners, activists, spies, and other roles that supported the movement for Chilean independence. [2]She organized and supported all the social organizations that lent their support to the nascent government. At that time she sewed the first Chilean flag[3] (1812). Due to all of her activities, she became the visible face and heroine of those early struggles.
After the Spanish Reconquista of 1814, she went into exile, together with her brothers, to
Once in Chile, she dedicated all her energies to having her brothers' bodies, who had been buried in the Claustro de la Caridad in Mendoza, repatriated. President Francisco Antonio Pinto did so in 1828. She lived the rest of her life very quietly in her hacienda of El Monte, where she died in August 1862.
Exile
In 1814, when Spain reconquered Chile, Javiera abandoned her husband and children to go into self-exile and to follow the footsteps of her three brothers. Together with them, she traveled to the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, lived in Mendoza and later moved to Buenos Aires where she was received by the priest Bartolomé Tollo, an old friend of the family.[4]Javiera often wrote letters to her husband during her exile, she stated in the letters that her leave of her family was to protect them due to her family connection. She also stated that the leave she took of her family deeply hurt her and that she had taken her son Perico as consolation for her troubles. </ref>Javiera Carerra. “Letters among Chile’s Carerra’s.” in Latin American Independence: An Anthology of Sources, edited by Sarah C. Chambers and John Charles Chasteen, 129-132. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2010. </ref>
She had difficult times in Buenos Aires: due to health problems and a financial disaster. At that time she began a romantic relationship with the Argentine nationalized American captain David Jewett.[5]
She directed the so-called "conspiracy of 1817" against O'Higgins, which ultimately meant the execution of her brothers Luis and Juan José in 1818, in Mendoza.
Final years
She remained in retirement until her last days on herd estate in El Monte, concentrating on domestic life and charitable works.[6] She accomplished the repatriation of the bodies of her brothers in 1828 under the presidency of Francisco Antonio Pinto.
She died at her hacienda in Santiago on August 20, 1862. Since 1952, her body has been lying with her brothers in the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral.[7]
Legacy
Carrera is seen as a symbol of a Chilean woman standing up to authority like Paula Jaraquemada and Inés Suárez. She is still mentioned as a role model to contemporary protesters against mistreatment.[8]
One of the most prestigious girls-only public schools in
Javiera Carrera was the object of admiration during the 19th century. Maria Graham, Miguel Luis Amunátegui, Vicente Grez and Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna wrote works that highlighted her patriotism and the defense of her brothers, portraying her as a strong, determined and educated woman.[9]
See also
References
- ^ http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id={09b31ebd-bb5c-419c-87c7-3069540a13e3}
- ^ Chambers, Sarah C. (2015). Families in War and Peace: Chile from Colony to Nation. Duke University Press (published May 22, 2015).
- ^ Letter by Diego Antonio Navarro Martín de Villodras, Bishop of Concepción, written in Pasco, Peru (1814)
- ^ "Javiera Carrera - Memoria Chilena, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile". www.memoriachilena.gob.cl. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
- ^ Eduardogerdingster (2021-02-22). "The Nottingham-Malvinas Group: 2021 Admiral David Jewett and his descendants". The Nottingham-Malvinas Group. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
- ^ "Mujeres Bacanas | Javiera Carrera (1781-1862)". Mujeres Bacanas (in Spanish). 2017-03-21. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
- ^ "Javiera Carrera, Revolutionary Icon". Retrieved 2021-08-26.
- ISBN 978-0-271-04671-6.
- ^ "Javiera Carrera, Revolutionary Icon". Retrieved 2021-08-24.
Sources
- Medina, José Toribio (1906). Diccionario Biográfico Colonial de Chile (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Imprenta Elzeviriana. pp. 869–870.
- Pilleux Cepeda, Mauricio. "Recopilación de Genealogia Chilena" (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 January 2009.
- "Genealogical chart of Carrera family" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 6, 2005. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
External links
- Short Biography Archived 2006-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
- Javiera Carrera Stamp