Juana Ramírez

Juana Ramírez, ( Chaguaramas, 1790 – Guacharacas, 1856), better known as Juana "La Avanzadora", was a soldier and heroine of the Venezuelan War of Independence.

Biography

Juana Ramírez was born on the 12th of January, 1790, in the town of Chaguaramas in the state of Guarico, Venezuela. Her mother, Guadalupe, was a slave brought over from Africa and bought by the Rojas family. It's believed that Juana is the daughter of the general Andrés Rojas or his brother, Francisco. Though born a slave she was freed and grew up under the tutelage Teresa Ramírez de Valderrama who gave her protection and her last name.

In 1813 she commanded an all women’s 100 strong artillery unit, which was instrumental in resisting Spanish soldiers’ attempts to reconquer the then newly independent Venezuela and make it a colony again.^[1]

Burial

The Guacharacans and later the citizens of San Vicente would plant cacti that were the first markers of the exact site were "La Avanzadora" is buried. A monument, constructed and declared the District Patriotic Sanctuary in 1975, and then the Regional Patriotic Sanctuary in 1994, designates the final resting place of her remains. The monument, Juana La Avanzadora, was erected in her honor on Bolívar avenue in Maturín. On the 23rd of October, 2001 the symbolic remains of Juana Ramírez were inducted into the National Pantheon of Venezuela, the last resting place of heroes of the War for Independence and important figures in Venezuelan society.

In 2015 she became the first black woman to be posthumously laid to rest in Venezuela's National Mausoleum of Heroes.^[2]

References