| Description |
Sor (Sister) Juana Inés de la Cruz, pictured above, was regarded as the finest Baroque writer in New Spain, modern-day Mexico. She received both respect and brutal misogynistic criticism for this. In the radical Christian New Spain of the 1600s, Sor Juana was punished for being an intellectual, a woman, a nun, and a writer.
Three years after her birth in San Miguel Nepantla, Mexico, the young Sor Juana had already learned to read. By the time she was six years old, she had suggested to cut her hair short and pose as a boy to go to university. She composed poetry all through her formative years and demonstrated complete command of Greek, Latin and the indigenous language Nahuatl. She was sent to live with her relatives in Mexico City, where the viceroy was struck by her wit, and chose her to be his wife's lady-in-waiting. The viceroy assembled a panel of scholars to test seventeen-year old Juana’s intelligence, whose questions she answered with ease. Juana entered the Convent of the Order of St. Jérôme, where she could avoid marriage and tend to her studies. There she produced most of the work that she is known for today. The extraordinarily talented Sor Juana gained a great deal of fame in Spain and Mexico as well as the disapproval of religious authorities. After writing what is considered the first feminist manifesto, Sor Juana caved to the Church’s pressure and gave up writing. A year later, her life was taken by the typhus epidemic that ravaged Mexico City in 1695.
Side note: Nearly 30 years before the banknote's initial circulation in 1978, Miguel Cabreba produced the painting that served as the inspiration for the engraving on this denomination. Her work gradually slipped from the public domain’s mind until it was revitalized by Mexican Noble Laureate Octavio Paz in the early 20th century. Twice during his time as a poetry professor at Harvard University in the 1970s, he taught a course on Sor Juana. Additionally, in 1975, he delivered a series of lectures on her life and works at the Colegio Nacional in Mexico City. Perhaps his profound interest in her work shed a light on Sor Juana's incredible significance and national treasure status, ultimately contributing to her commemoration in the first series of banknotes issued by the Banco de Mexico. |
| Bibliography |
“1000 Pesos 1985 Mexico.” Description of 1000 Pesos 1985. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://notescollector.eu/pages/en/notes.php?noteId=877.
Banco de México. “Demonetized AA-Type Banknotes, Issued and Printed by Banco de México.” Demonetized AA-type banknotes, issued and printed by Banco de México. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.banxico.org.mx/banknotes-and-coins/demonetized-aa-type-banknotes.html.
Canal 22. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, la peor de todas. YouTube. YouTube, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPranNMoHdU&ab_channel=Canal22.
Clío. Minibiografía: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. YouTube. YouTube, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znf1mPr5hIY&ab_channel=Cl%C3%ADo.
Glantz, Margo. “Octavio Paz and Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz’s Posthumous Fame.” Pacific Coast Philology 28, no. 2 (1993): 129–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/1316629.
“La escritora Sor Juan Inés de la Cruz murió hace 325 en medio de una epidemia” La Vanguardia, April 4, 2020. https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20200418/48576211517/la-escritora-sor-juan-ines-de-la-cruz-murio-hace-325-en-medio-de-una-epidemia.html.
Merrim, S.. "Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz." Encyclopedia Britannica, April 13, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sor-Juana-Ines-de-la-Cruz.; TED-Ed. History’s “worst” nun. YouTube, 2019.
Sánchez Hernández, Jorge. “Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz.” Jorgesanchezhpintor. Accessed August 15, 2023. https://www.jorgesanchezhernandez.com/sor-juana-ines-de-la-cruz.
“Sor Juana, Founding Mother of Mexican Literature.” JSTOR Daily. Accessed August 15, 2023. https://daily.jstor.org/sor-juana-founding-mother-of-mexican-literature/.;
“Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz.” Poetry Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sor-juana.
The Women of the Hispanic Society | Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. YouTube. YouTube, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsAbsMBTK1I&ab_channel=HispanicSocietyMuseum%26Library. |
