| Description |
The Porfiriato regime in Mexico established a number of credit laws during the end of the 19th century that permitted the creation of private banks with the authority to issue banknotes. This allowed two banks, the Banco Nacional Mexicano and the Banco Mercantil Mexicano, to launch independently. Two years after their establishment, both of these institutions merged in 1884 to become the Banco Nacional de México. That same year, the first series of bank notes by the newly established national bank began to circulate. Among them was the first effigy of a woman on Mexican paper money. Manuela García-Turela Manso appeared on banknotes from 1884 to 1913 with denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, as well as the largest denominations of the day, 500 and 1,000 pesos. The use of her image on national currency was done without her knowledge or consent and was prompted by the resentment of an unfulfilled lover.
Manuela was born to an aristocratic family in Puebla who presided over the state branch of the Banco Nacional de México and owned multiple properties. Manuela was under intense social pressure to uphold the standards expected of a daughter and wife in aristocracy. Therefore, for her to appear on a product linked to the public sphere and economics–both issues tied to masculinity– was utterly inappropriate. The persisting rumor is that Antonio Mier y Celis, one of the richest men in the nation and the Banco de México's Board of Directors President at the time, fell in love with her. He insistently requested Manuela be his mistress. She declined. Angered, Mier bribed a servant to acquire a photograph of the young woman. He then published her effigy on the money in circulation. This was devastating for Manuela. In 19th century Mexico, it was thought that whoever surrendered their image also gave away a portion of their body and soul. The 1997 scholar Tello, presents one of the statements of Mier de Celis, who informed Manuela of the following: "...that, since he could not obtain her effigy to carry it next to his heart, all of the inhabitants of the Mexican Republic would have it in their hands."
Here, Manuela’s portrait is paired with that of an image of cowboys rounding up cattle. |
| Bibliography |
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Carner, Françoise et al. “Estereotipos Femeninos En El Siglo XIX.” El Colegio de México, 1987. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvhn0cdb.9.
Castelli Olvera, Azul Kikey. “Manuela García-Teruel Manso, Una Señorita Decimonónica En El Billete.” Religación, September 12, 2022. https://doi.org/10.46652/rgn.v7i33.938.
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Zárate Toscano, Verónica, & Eduardo Flores Clair “La iconografía Del Papel Moneda En México, Siglos XIX Y XX”. Historias, n.º 104, June 28, 2021. https://revistas.inah.gob.mx/index.php/historias/article/view/16980. |
