Biographies

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Adela Dalto

A diverse vocal performer of Latin jazz, award winning artist Adela Dalto is also a talented recording artist, songwriter and producer on the music scene. Most recently she has become a professional lecturer and author of "The Young Woman's Empowerment Journal."

Born in Texas to Mexican parents, she grew up with the influence of music and a growing interest in jazz. Her late husband was the Latin jazz pianist and musical director Jorge Dalto, who played with George Benson, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie and other musical giants. Through Jorge is whom she credits with inspiring her singing and songwriting career.

Over the course of her 25-year career in music, she has worked alongside some of the world's finest musicians, including Carlos "Patato" Valdés, Jerry González, Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill, Hilton Ruiz, Roy Hargrove, Freddie Hubbard, and with Mauricio Smith's Latin Jazz Orchestra at the Rainbow Room in New York City . In addition to her solo efforts, which include five CD recordings, she has found time to collaborate on albums with, among others, Lee Konitz, Aloisio Aguiar and Mario Bauzá. She has appeared as a regular guest vocalist at legendary Manhattan hotspots like the Blue Note, SOB's and Birdland, and has toured as a soloist in Europe, Asia and South America. Also to her credit are numerous film, television and radio vocal and acting appearances.

Her 2003 season was highlighted by La Crème Latina, her latest and most emotionally revealing album featuring an all-star collection of musicians. In 2002 the work highlighted was A Tribute to Toña La Negra at Aaron Davis Hall, in New York City . Described by Latin Jazz Network reporter Thomas Peña as "breathtaking," the show featured a band plus a 22-string orchestra.

Throughout her career, Ms Dalto has encouraged young Latinas to become involved in the music business. In 2000 she formed an all-women group, Mujeres Latinas ® , that plays a hot mix of salsa, merengue, cumbia, samba and Latin rock. Mujeres Latinas can be heard singing their Dalto-penned anthem "Somos Mujeres Latinas" at the Hispanic and Mexican Day parades in New York and festivals around the world. One of their goals is to inspire young girls to play instruments-such as sax and trumpet-that typically have been the exclusive domain of male musicians.

Tapping into the virtual Latin American community, Ms Dalto spearheaded the development of a website-wwwmujereslatinas.com-designed to foster artistic and educational achievement among young women, as well as awareness of prominent Latin American women. From this project, Ms. Dalto was asked to engage in a series of workshops to empower young Latinas. She created the program "Bringing Latinas Together and wrote "The Young Woman's Empowerment Journal" as the workshop workbook.

Upcoming projects include, a book on notable Latinas and a book on Ms. Dalto's poems, lyrics and tales from her travels. A "Mujeres Latinas" compilation featuring songs written and recorded by Ms Dalto and other Latina artists and continuous live performances with both her Latin jazz ensemble and her group "Mujeres Latinas."

Presented to her by Governor Pataki, Ms; Dalto is a recipient of the Bobby Capo Life Time Achievement Award, 2003. She is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild, National Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a voting member of The Grammy Awards. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, she also has taught voice lessons. A resident of New York City , she has two grown children, Miles Dalto, an up-and-coming jazz pianist and musical producer, and Billy Dalto, (R-Oregon), elected as the youngest state legislator in 2003.

Antonia Novello

Antonia Novello is a Hispanic American hero and a Mujeres Latinas icon. She was the first Hispanic American and the first female to become Surgeon General of the United States.

Novello was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico on August 23, 1944. As a young girl, she had inherited a painful colon condition. When she was eighteen, Novello had an operation to correct this condition, something that would spark a dream in her to become a doctor and ease the suffering of others.

Soon, Novello received an undergraduate degree and her medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico, where she was considered one of their brightest students. While in school, Novello's mother would not let her work because her mother felt that once she got out into the workforce, it would sidetrack her from her studies.

Novello's first work came as a medical internship and residency in pediatrics from 1970 through 1973 at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. She decided to specialize in disorders of the kidney in children, later becoming a fellow in pediatric nephrology.

During her tenure at the University of Michigan, Novello was in a position to see the disastrous consequences of poor public health policy, particularly concerning the lack of access of certain communities to quality healthcare. As she grew in her career, Novello decided to learn more about public health from a larger perspective. She enrolled in Johns Hopkins University and earned a master's degree in public health in 1982.

A solid foundation in public health policy helped Novello move forward in her career. She joined the National Institutes of Health and became a clinical professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University, cementing a marriage of children's issues and health policy Dr. Owen Rennert, one of Novello's colleagues remarked that she "is tremendously concerned about the medical and social problems of children and she has a way of drawing others into that concern."

Novello's growing knowledge in public health policy made her an excellent fit for lawmakers. In 1982, she became a Congressional fellow and advisor to the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Senator Orrin Hatch reported that she had "given good advice on several bills."

Her success in this arena, combined with other political factors and great timing resulted in her nomination and appointment as Surgeon General in the Bush administration. The Surgeon General is a member of the president's cabinet and acts as the president's chief medical advisor. The role of the Surgeon General is to promote health and wellness across the nation and Novello did exactly that, focusing her efforts on AIDS-infected children, teenage drinking, mental illness, smoking and breast cancer.

Speaking across the nation, Novello was a champion for children and Americans without health insurance. In 1991, she met with several of the largest beer and wine companies in the United States and asked them to stop marketing to teenagers. In 1993, Novello attempted to address health problems in the Hispanic American community. She pointed out that tuberculosis rates in Hispanics are four times the U.S. average. Hispanics also represent one-fifth of AIDS sufferers in the U.S., yet the majority of Hispanics in the U.S. are without health insurance.

Although she was unable to implement her proposal to expand healthcare coverage for Hispanic Americans, she continues to work towards this goal. She now works on children and women's health issues globally and will remain a role model to those seeking to effect positive change in Hispanic American health policy. Novella is a Hispanic American success story and an inspiration to all Mujeres Latinas.

Sources: Diane Telgen and Jim Kamp, Latinas! Women of Achievement, Visible Ink Press (Detroit), 1996. Nicholas E. Meyer, The Bibliographical Dictionary of Hispanic Americans, Facts on File, Inc. (New York), 1997.

Celia Cruz

Celia Cruz is a Mujeres Latinas idol. Dubbed "the queen of Salsa," Celia has touched the lives of many with her stunning and colorful performances. Born in Havana, Cuba on October 21, 1924, she has brought generations of loyal fans into the genre and inspired countless voices.

As a young girl, Celia filled her home and her community with song. It was clear from early on that she was going to be a star. But singing wasn't her first dream. Celia wanted to be a teacher, a dream which her parents supported. Celia changed her mind however, when her talent and her blossoming voice eventually led her and her family to realize she should be a stage performer. Celia's parents were cautious, however, insisting that there be an older women in the family at performances to chaperone her.

Celia's first efforts as a singer came on Cuban radio in the 1940s. She clearly had a natural talent for singing and decided to further study music at Havana's Conservatory of Music from 1947 to 1950.

Celia's big break came in 1950 when she was asked to be the lead singer for La Sonora Matancera, Cuba's top dance band. She began to record with the band and remained in Cuba until 1961, when it was evident that Fidel Castro was about to seize control of the island from the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Celia was forced to flee Castro's Communist revolution. She reached Mexico but decided to settle in the United States. According to Celia, "Castro never forgave me." He refused to allow her to enter the country ever again.

Once settled in the United States, Celia found it difficult to find a niche. Latin music had been popular at the time, but the music she performed was something new to American audiences. Celia persevered however and soon her mix of rhythms and sounds became known as Salsa.

In 1966, Celia united with the Tito Puente Orchestra to perform. This union proved to be a huge success and Celia performed with Tito Puente for many years.

Through her career, Celia has recorded many albums, including her seventy-fourth in 1995. Over the years she has toured internationally to critical acclaim. Celia has appeared at the Grammies and has sold-out a string of birthday performances at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Celia is one of the greatest singers and stage performers ever. She is a living legend and an inspiration to all Mujeres Latinas.

Source: The Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Americans. Nicholas E. Meyer.

Rigoberta Menchu Tum

Nobel Peace Laureate, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a Quiche ( Mayan) woman, born 1959 in Chimel, Guatemala. As an activist, Ms. Menchu, dedicated the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 to her father Vicente. Ms. Menchu Tum is also the official spokesperson for the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Peoples (1994 - 2003). Through the publishing of her book, “I… Rigoberta Menchu”, for which she won the Nobel Peace Prize, the United Nations declared 1993 the International Year for Indigenous Populations. The $1.2 million cash prize was used to set up a foundation in her name to continue the fight for human rights of indigenous people. She was the youngest recipient at 23 years old.

Ms. Menchu’s book became a controversial piece for the inconsistencies of the stories she describes. Her purpose, was to bring to world attention the abuses against the Indigenous Indians of her country. With the writing help of Venezuelan anthropologist Elizabeth Burgos, Ms. Menchu’s book has been translated into several languages and is required reading in many universities.

Chimel, located in the northern highlands of Guatemala was home to Ms. Menchu’s Quiche Indian family. The Military-led government and wealthy plantation owners became interested in this area. They began taking Indian-occupied lands by force. Having no rights as indigenous people they began to organize and formed the United Peasant Committee.

Menchu’s father, Vincente, was Rigoberta’s cause to follow him as an activist. He became a leader in the peasant movement that began in the 70’s. The movement wanted to secure the territory in which the indigenous people lived. Señor Menchu had been arrested and imprisoned many times for his activities of organizing petitions and later organizing protests to secure the northern highlands and the human rights abuses against them. As Rigoberta decribes, her sixteen-year-old brother, Petrocinio, was kidnapped by soldiers in 1979, tortured and burned alive while his family stood by helpless. The following year Señor Menchu, along with thirty-eight other Indian leaders, died in a fire at the Spanish embassy, while protesting violations of Indian human rights abuses.

Rigoberta was already an activist in her father’s movement, the United Peasant Committee, when her mother, a healer, also a leader in the movement, was kidnapped, raped and tortured, then killed just a few months after the embassy fire.

Wanted by the Guatemalan government, Rigoberta left her country after her mother’s death in 1982 and fled to Mexico. Wanting to bring the social injustice of her people to the attention of world she dictated “I …Rigoberta Menchu” (1984), her autobiography, sharing her story and of the lives of the Quiche Indians. Her cause, through her book, brought international attention of the conflict between indigenous Indians and the military government of Guatemala.

Rigoberta Menchu continues her movement as a symbol of peace through her foundation, The Rigoberta Menchu Foundation, having broken the silence of the violations of her people in Guatemala. She also continues to motivate women and indigenous people to vote so they can help make a difference in their country and in the rights of the Guatemalan people.

Ellen Ochoa

“What interest me, what challenges me, and what could get me a job later”…

Ellen Ochoa, born in Los Angeles on May 10, 1958 is the first Latina astronaut. She is also a research scientist and a public speaker and the mother of two children. She holds three patents on optical processing and is the recipient of several awards including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1997) and the Outstanding Leadership Medal (1995). She also hold 4 Space Flight Medals (2002,1999, 1994, 1993), representing the over 978 hours in spaces.

Motivated by her mother, who graduated with 3 double majors, to be a good student, Dr. Ochoa excelled in math and science. Her point of reference was… “what interest me, what challenges me, and what could get me a job later”.

Ochoa entered San Diego State University with the intensions of majoring in music because of her love with the flute. After switching her major several times from business to journalism to computer science, she finally settled on physics and graduated in 1980. She then continued her studies at Stanford University to receive her masters in electrical engineering in 1981 and her doctorate in 1985.

It was in school when she heard a conversation among students about the NASA program. She realized she had all the qualifications so she sent in her application but was rejected. She continued to send in the application each year until she was accepted in 1987 in the top 100 of the group.

While waiting for her application to be accepted she worked as a researcher at the Sandia National Laboratories. She developed three patents by age 33, replacing computer operations by optical process to improve images.

By 1987, she clearly set on wanting to be an astronaut. Her application was accepted and joined the staff of a NASA research center in Mountain View, California. Later that year she was chief of the information sciences division heading a team of 35 scientists and engineers. Her mission was to improve computer systems for use in aerospace. By 1989, she had won the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award for Most Promising Engineer in Government.

Ochoa received the National Hispanic Quincentennial Commission in 1990 and was received as an astronaut candidate. Within the following year Ochoa had been trained as a space shuttle specialist. Ochoa first mission in 1993 was a nine day mission on the Discovery shuttle to monitor gases in the Earth’s middle atmosphere and to retrieve a satellite. Ochoa’s next flight was abroad the Atlantis shuttle as a payload commander in 1994, to continue the mission of her previous flight related once again to the Earth’s atmosphere. In 1999, Dr Ochoa was commissioned to a 10-day in which the crew performed the first docking to the International Space Station, delivering 4 tons of logistics and supplies in preparation for the arrival of the first crew to live on the station. Dr. Ochoa coordinated the transfer of supplies and also operated the RMS during the 8-hour space walk.

Dr. Ochoa was aboard the STS-110 Atlantis (April, 2002) the 13th Shuttle mission to visit the International Space Station which included space walks for the crew.

It was Dr. Ochoa who handled the shuttle’s hand control to retrieve the $6 million Spartan that is now displayed in the Smithsonian Museum. It was a satellite designed to study the sun’s corona, the velocity and acceleration of the solar wind.

Manuela Saénz
“Caballeresa del Sol”
Ecuadorian
1798 - 1856

Manuela Saénz is considered the first feminist of the America’s and an important revolutionist of South America. She earned the highest decoration Peru can give to a revolutionist; the “Order of the Sun” and was affectionately named “Caballeresa del Sol”. She has been described as an elegant beauty who enjoyed reading the Greek and Latin classics but was dedicated to the revolution and Simon Bolivar.

Manuela is most remembered as the lover of the “Liberator of South America”, Simon Bolivar. Providing him with information and contacts she became his confidante. She guarded his important documents at times during his travels to the different countries of the revolution. She is also responsible for saving his life three times. As an activist, she was very much admired by those who were in favor of the revolution.

The Venezuela government accepting her only as the lover, silenced her official story and never giving her the recognition she rightly deserves. She was an important figure in the liberation of Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia and Bolivia from Spanish rule gathering and passing valuable information to Simon Bolívar.

Born in 1797 in Quito, Ecuador, Manuela Saenz was raised in a convent. Her mother’s modest family abandon because she was the illegitimate child of a married Spanish nobleman. Manuela remained on the convent until she was thrown out at seventeen years old when the nuns discovered an army officer had seduced her. She then lived with her father until a wealthy merchant Englishman twice her age arranged with her father to marry her.

She was married in Lima, Peru and lived as an aristocrat. Living in a grand house and mixing with the wealthy and powerful society that Peru offered. Being the hostess to social gatherings in her home, invited guests always included political and military officers. The revolution always dominated these conversations in which Manuela was always the leading inquirer. She would win the admiration of the officials using vulgarities to share their conversations of the revolution, building confidence among the militaries. Her marriage having been an arranged one was one she never accepted and would eventually leave him. It was known that she would attract intelligent men that could teach and share military secrets about the revolution in intimate encounters.

It was at the celebration of the “Order of the Sun” that Manuela Saenz met Simon Bolivar. There was an instant attraction that would grow and last until his death in 1856. It was in 1822, at 24 years of age that she campaigned for her decoration of the “Order of the Sun”. It was at the celebration party that she met the man that would affectionately call her “La Libertadora de el Libertador”, Simon Bolivar. For the next 8 years she would dedicate her life to the passion she had for Simon Bolivar and the revolution.

The attraction for one another solidified over the years as the revolution grew. Manuela would receive love letters from Bolivar asking her to come and join her. She would travel through difficult and dangerous territories to reach the back ends of the revolution to be with her admirer. It was during these difficult revolutionary times that Bolivar contracted tuberculosis. Manuela would then travel to where he was to nurture him back to where he could continue his work. As he moved from one country to another, expressions of love and information were always exchanged by letters carried by their confidants. Manuela would continue on her own gathering information, distributing leaflets with information about the revolution. She also would protest for women’s rights. He passion for the revolution had grown so great that when she would go to meet Bolivar, where battles were being fought, she would wear her Coronal uniform and would go out and rouse the troops, brandishing her sword.

After the revolution, President Bolivar stepped down from the presidency of “El Gran Colombia”, because of his loss in popularity due to the civil wars that continued. She was brought right down with him. Manuela Saenz and Simon Bolivar could not live together because she was still considered a married women and living together would only instigate more problems. The Catholic religion would never allow divorce. The government considered her an instigator and only saw her as Bolivar’s lover. In an assassination attempt, Manuela did manage to save Bolivar one last time when he escaped from a window while she distracted his assassins. Bolivar left Colombia in 1830 and died on his way to the Caribbean from tuberculosis.

In the same year, Manuela was exiled to Peru from Colombia, to live in a costal town where she lived selling tobacco until a fall kept her incapacitated. An old revolutionary friend who had come to live in Peru visited her regularly. They enjoyed the rest of their lives reading the love letters of Simon Bolivar to his adored Manuela Saenz.

Manuela Saenz died in 1856 from exposure to a disease brought in from a sailor that was put off a passing ship. The disease engulfed the community. Manuela Saenz was buried in a communal grave and burned. Her precious love letters from Simon Bolivar were also buried in the middle of the street along with her belonging feared from the contamination.

Manuela Saenz had been removed from the memoirs of various writers with all records mysterious disappearing from government files. .” The Catholic Church of Merida provoked a bust of Saenz from being erected in a square describing her as immoral and promiscuous. It was not until the mid-1980’s that biographies written included the story of Manuela Saenz. Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel “The General in His Labyrinth” includes Manuela Saenz. Victor Von Hagen also includes her in his biography “The Four Seasons of Manuela.” Finally a movie, “Manuela Saenz” by director Diego Risquez, was filmed in 1997.

Dolores Huerta, Chicana Activist

Chicana activist, Dolores Huerta, Vice President of the United Farm Workers of America (UFWA) became a labor leader of Chicano farm workers since 1968. She negotiated the first contract with farmers through a boycott of grapes. The contract included higher wages and contributions to the union’s first health and welfare fund. She very actively sought racial and economic justice for farm laborers.

Born in 1930, in Dawson, New Mexico, to Juan Fernandez and Alicia Chaves Fernandez, Dolores was taken to California as a child when her parents divorced. Growing up in California offered her childhood music and dance lessons and she was also a member of the Girl Scouts. By 1940, Dolores’s mother had remarried to a restaurant and hotel owner and brought Dolores and her brothers in to work at the restaurant.

Dolores had always remained in touch with her father back in New Mexico. He became her catalyst when he began to be active with labor unions and returning to school. He earned his college degree and went on to run and win as a state legislature of New Mexico working toward better labor laws. Dolores earned her college degree in teaching and was one of the very few Latinas who had begun attending universities in the early 50’s. Having taught shoeless, hungry children, she realized being a teacher was not helping the root of their problems. She left teaching to work in an area where she could be more effective. She began to be an activist in her community by working for the Mexican America self-help association, the Community Service Organization. Registering voters, training women to be union members and negotiators. She lobbied local government offices for changes as a member of the CSO.

By 1962, Huerta met Cesar Chavez through their work with the Agricultural Workers Association. He was a director of the CSO in California and Arizona. Their common interests of a farm workers union, lead them to leave the CSO and start the National Farm Workers Association which was later renamed the United Farm Workers (URM). Bringing their children together and relocating to Delano, California, they worked endlessly forming and guiding the union, signing up farm workers and negotiating contracts with farm owners. Herta mapped out the strategy for the grape workers strike which included a successful boycott of grapes across the east coast that was supported across the country. This achievement was followed my many more accomplishments including helping pass legislature for unemployed, underemployed and disability benefits. These victories did not come without a price. Herta and Chaves were arrested many times for their protests and she survived a near death beating by police which brought about a change in the San Francisco rules regarding crowd control and discipline.

Herta inspired many women with her powerful and tireless approach. She brought many feminists, community, religious and Hispanic groups including student protestors and peace groups into the cause of rights for migrant farm workers. In 1973, Casa Herta was established and named Herta as the union’s first president, (a post she still holds) two years before the Agricultural Labor Relations Act was signed. It was the most important bill of rights, for the rights of farm workers to negotiate better wages and working conditions with farm owners. This was the result of the grape boycott lasted 5 years.

Huerta has continued her tireless work until today. Having helped in so many issues regarding migrant workers, her work has crossed over into helping consumers and the environment in speaking out against toxic pesticide use. Huerta helped enact the important Immigration Act of 1985 allowing immigrates to receive benefits. She’s also helped in elections with Robert F. Kennedy acknowledging her support in the 1968 California Democratic Presidential Primary minutes before his assassination.

Besides helping form the first farmer workers union, she also helped establish organizations that further help immigrants and migrant workers such as the Robert F. Kennedy Medical Plan, the Juan De La Cruz Farm Worker Pension Fund, the Farm Workers Credit Union and the National Farm Workers Service Center, Inc which provides affordable housing and offers radio communications in Spanish.

Huerta’s awards include the Outstanding Labor Leader Award (1984) the National Women’s Hall of Frame (1993), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (1993), the Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award, the Eugene V. Debs Foundation Outstanding American Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom Award, the Consumers’ Union Trumpeter’s Award (1998), “Women of the Year” award from Ms. Magazine and “100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century” of the Ladies Home Journal.

Ms. Huerta has three honorary doctorate degrees from New College of San Francisco, 1990, San Francisco State University, 1993 and S.U.N.I New Palz University, 1999.

Isabel Angelica Allende - Writer

Internationally acclaimed writer, Isabel Angelica Allende, was born in 1942 in Lima, Peru and raised in Chile. She is the worlds’ most important woman novelist. She is also a journalist and playwright, author of several novels, a short fiction collection, as well as stories and plays for children.

Her most recognized writings are La casa de los espiritus (The House of the Spirits, 1982) and De amor y sombra (Of Love and Shadows), which were made into movies. Other books following soon after were Eva Luna, The Stories of Eva Luna, The Infinite Plan and Paula. Her books have been translated into thirty languages and has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. She has earned numerous awards.

Her parents, Tomás, a Chilean diplomat, and Francisca (Llona Barros) Allende (who was the sister of the late Chilean president, Salvador Allende) divorced when she was three. She traveled with her mother to Santiago, Chile, where she was raised in her grandparents' home. Allende graduated from a private high school at the age of 16. By 1962 three years later in 1962, she married her first husband, Miguel Frías, an engineer. Allende also went to work for the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization in Santiago, where she was a secretary for several years. Later, she became a journalist, editor, and advice columnist for Paula magazine.

In addition, she worked as a television interviewer and on movie newsreels. She earned the Quality Paperback Book Club New Voice Award nomination for her debut novel, La casa de los espiritus (1982; The House of the Spirits)--which became a best seller in Spain and West Germany in the 1980s and a 1994 movie--and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize nomination for De amor y de sombra (1984; Of Love and Shadows). In 1988 Allende's third novel, Eva Luna, was voted One of the Year's Best Books by Library Journal. Allende wrote from a Latina's perspective of romance and hardships mixed with fantasy which was a style typical of Latin America.

When her uncle, Chilean president Salvador Allende, was assassinated in 1973 as part of a right-wing military coup against his socialist government, Allende, her husband, and their two children fled to Venezuela. Having difficulty finding work Allende devoted her time to writing and began with her memories of her family and the political changes of her country which brought her much success as the most popular female writer in the world.

Malintzin Tenepal, La Malinche"

Malintzin Tenepal, (La Malinche), an Aztec slave, considered the mother of the first Mexican, was born about 1505. As a convert to Christianity and baptized Marina, she became the interpreter of the conquistador Hernan Cortes. She spoke Nahuatl, her Aztec language and the Mayan dialects. She later learned Spanish as Cortes took her as his mistress, bearing him a child and becoming his sole interpreter. Doña Marina became instrumental in helping Cortes communicate with the Indians helping to negotiate with Moctezuma and other tribal chiefs leading to the destruction of the Aztec Empire.

She helped to communicate with the Indians introducing Christianity to end human sacrifice and cannibalism. As an interpreter she communicated Cortes’s negotiations with the tribal leaders. She was never given public recognition in Mexico. She was seen as a traitor by the Aztec’s for helping Cortes in the destruction of the Empire. However, it is documented in a preserved letter in the Spanish archives from Cortes that “After God we owe this conquest of New Spain to Doña Marina.”

Doña Marina was in fact the daughter to a noble Aztec family. She was taught skills and educated by her father whose knowledge was rich from the Empire. Advanced in mathematics, the Empire created one of the most accurate calendars in society. After his death, the Princess, was handed over to traders by her mother, because after remarrying and giving birth to a son, she preferred her son rule instead of Marina. Marina was then traded off as a slave to the Cacique chief of Tabasco. Learning the languages of the Yucatan peninsula, she among 20 women was offered as slaves by the Cacique chief to Cortes. She later became the needed interpreter and mistress to Cortes.

It was during the Cortes conquest, moving out of the Mayan territory into the Aztec region, that they discovered they could no longer communicate with the Indians. Being informed that one of the slave women was Aztec; Doña Marina became Cortes’s interpreter at the first meetings with Moctezuma in the capital city, which is now Mexico City. She helped in communicating the negotiations with the tribal leaders. The freedom to communicate gave her the ability to not only relay Cortes’s messages but also to communicate her own thoughts and recommendations. Her Christian beliefs helped to teach that human sacrifice and cannibalism was wrong and needed to stop.

In a revolt of the Aztec’s against Cortes and his army, much of the Aztec population was destroyed. Dona Marina was looked a pond as a traitor for spreading her Christianity view point. Cortes went on to win the Aztec Empire in the name of Spain with more battles. The final destruction came with the spread of the smallpox virus that was brought in by Cortes’s soldiers.

It was time for Cortes to return to his Spanish wife and Spain. Dona Marina or “La Malinche” as she was now referred as (a name meaning the Captains women) was married off to one of Cortes’s knights. She had reunited briefly with her mother and brother who she forgave because of her Christian faith but was never heard of again.

The Imperial Princess, Redeemer Isabel

Imperial Princess Isabel, baptized Isabel Cristina Leopoldina Augusta, second daughter of Emperor D. Pedro II and Empress Dona Tereza Cristina Leopoldina, became the heiress to the throne at the tender age of 4 years old.

Princess Isabel was born, July 29, 1846 in Rio de Janeiro in the São Cristóvão palace. She became the Imperial Princess on August 10, 1850, after the death of her brother Prince Dom Afonso, the successor to the Emperor, in 1947. That same year her sister Princess Leopoldina was born. By 1848 a second brother, Prince Pedro was born but died two years later.

Evaluating both his daughter’s future, Emperor D. Pedro II prepared them for their roles as princesses but especially for Isabel’s role as the Imperial Princess. Education was her primary concern with thorough studies in all academics. When it was time to consider husbands for his daughters the search began with correspondence to Europe so that the sisters could chose their husbands.

On October 15, 1864, Princess Isabel married Prince Gastão de Orléans Count d'Eu, eldest son of Duke of Nemours and grandson of Luís Filipé, King of France. Their love bore three sons: Prince Dom Pedro de Alcantara, Dom Luís and Dom Antônio.

While traveling in Europe with her husband, Princess Isabel received news that her sister in Austria had taken ill and died. She returned to Brazil. Concern for the well-being of her sister’s children, The Emperor and his wife decided to travel to Europe. The Emperor named Princess Isabel the Regent of the Empire for the first of three times while he visited his grandchild to be sure they were well cared for in Austria.

It was during this reign that Princess Isabel used her prerogatives to impose the law of “Ventre Libre”, which was the freedom to the children of the slaves. She again was Regent of the Empire in 1876-1877 while her father visited the United States. On her third reign as Regent of the Empire, while her father traveled to Europe for health reasons, she proclaimed the “Aurea Law”, which freed all slaves on May 13, 1888.

Pope Leon XIII awarded her with the medal "Rose of Gold". She also received the Grand-Cross of the Imperial Order of the Cruzeiro of D. Pedro I, Founder of the Brazilian Empire- the Rosa. Reformed in Brazil, she received the Santiago da Espada- São Bento de Avis and Our Lord Jesus Christ. From Portugal awared the Order of Santa Isabel and the Cruz Estrelada from Austria. From Spain she received the Damas Nobres of Maria Luísa.

Imperial Princess Isabel Cristina Leopoldina Augusta Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga de Bragança e Bourbon, returned with her family to exile in France on the fall of the monarchy. When she died on November 14, 1921, she and her husband’s body were taken to the Orléans Pantheon in Dreux. On July 7, 1953 their bodies arrived in Rio de Janeiro until May 12, 1971 where they were finally put to rest in Petropolis, a small town in the mountains above Rio De Janeiro. It was in Petropolis were Princess Isabel spent her summers as a child and her honeymoon with her husband. In her diary she spoke of her fondness of Petropolis for its flowers, the natural beauty and the horses she rode.

The Mirabel Sisters

The “Butterflies” was the code name of three sisters, Patria, Maria Teresa and Minerva Mirabel from Salcedo, Dominican Republic. They fought for political freedom and were brutally assassinated on November 25th, 1960. The Mirabal sisters became symbols of popular feminist resistance in Latin American countries. They had been part of the underground resistance movement against President Trujillo’s oppressive dictatorship. The day of their assassinations was declared “International Day Against Violence Against Women” at the first Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting in Columbia, November 25, 1981. It was under the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo that the Mirabel Sisters were ordered to be killed. They used the name “the Butterflies” as their underground name as they engaged themselves in the resistance to Trujillo’s regime. Although the sisters and their husbands had been arrested several times over the period of their involvement, they continued until Trujillo declared the sisters a threat. He ordered their brutal killings.

An arranged car trip to visit their husbands in jail by the regime proved to be not a car accident but the day of their brutal killings in a sugar cane field. They were handcuffed and clubbed to death. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina (1891 to 1961) was elected president of Dominican public in the 1930’s and became a dictator for more than 30 years. His organized party, the Partido Dominicano, controlled the governing party as he became the general of the army. The people under Trujillo’s control were not allowed political freedom but they did live in an economically stable country. After 3 decades he began to lose the loyalty of his followers and felt the world wanted him dead. After the killings of the Mirabal sisters and an assassination attempt of the president of Venezuela, Romulo Betancourt, this created a anti-Trujillo movement that ended his dictatorship with his own assassination in 1961 by military leaders. The Mirabal sisters were given recognition in Dominican textbooks as national martyrs. Referred to as the “Unforgettable Butterflies” (Inolvidables Mariposas), they have become a symbol against victimization of women. Commemorated in books, songs and poems. They also inspired the film “In Time of the Butterflies.