Sáenz de Thorne, Manuela (1797–1856)
Sáenz de Thorne, Manuela (1797–1856)
Manuela Sáenz de Thorne (b. 1797; d. 23 November 1856), best known as the lover of Simón Bolívar, but also a political figure in her own right. Though she was of illegitimate birth, her parents belonged to the upper class of late colonial Quito. At age twenty she was given in an arranged marriage to an English merchant, James Thorne. However, the enduring passion of her life was for Bolívar, whom she met in 1822 when he first came to Ecuador.
Abandoning her husband, Sáenz followed Bolívar to Peru. She was with him on campaign and subsequently in Lima, where she assumed a prominent role in social and political life. But her most controversial role was in Bogotá, where she arrived in late 1827. There she showed uninhibited vigor in defending Bolívar against his opponents, especially the faction of Vice President Francisco de Paula Santander, at one point having Santander shot in effigy. When an attempt was made on Bolívar's life in September 1828, she was in the palace with him and helped him escape.
Sáenz remained in Bogotá after the final departure of Bolívar in 1830. She continued to be active in politics on behalf of the Bolivarian party and was implicated in a conspiracy against her old enemy Santander after he became president of New Granada. Exiled in 1833, she eventually settled in Paita, on the Peruvian coast, where she lived until her death.
See alsoBolívar, Simón .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alfonso Rumazo González, Manuela Sáenz, la libertadora del Libertador (1944).
Victor W. Von Hagen and Christine Von Hagen, The Four Seasons of Manuela: A Biography (1952).
Additional Bibliography
Cacua Prada, Antonio. Manuelita Sáenz: Mujer de América. Quito: Fondo Editorial CCE, 2002.
Mogollón Cobo, María, and Ximena Narváez Yar. Manuela Sáenz: Presencia y polémica en la historia. Quito: Corporación Editora Nacional, 1997.
Padrón, Leonardo. Manuela Sáenz: Guión original. Caracas: AlterLibris Ediciones, 2001.