Before I start with Policarpa’s life, I just want to say that this will be my last Badass Women post for the foreseeable future. I need to take a break for my mental health, I know posts like these are not much, but I don’t have enough time as it is! So a break is in order.
Policarpa Salvarrieta was a spy and revolutionary in Nueva Granada (now Colombia) during the Spanish Reconquista. She aided the Revolutionary Forces, recruiting men, transporting weapons, and offering her services as a seamstress as a way to gain entry to Spanish Royalist households.
Her exact birthdate and place, as well as her legal name, are not known, but her family was from Guaduas, and she also spent time in Bogotá. She is thought to have been born around 1795. After a smallpox epidemic killed her parents, a brother, and a sister, Policarpa moved around with her older sister and younger brother until she was old enough to go to Bogotá to live. There she became “La Pola” and became involved with the independence movement against the Spanish forces.
Because she was not known in the city, she could move around freely, and things went well for a while. That is, until two revolutionary leaders carrying valuable information directly linking Policarpa to the cause were apprehended. She was arrested, along with her younger brother and lover.
While in prison, she is said to have encouraged the other prisoners, shouting insults at the Spaniards guarding her, even refusing food and drink. When they took her to the firing squad on November 14, 1817, she continued insulting them, and even turned around as they shot her to avoid the traitor’s death of having one’s back turned. Her lover was also executed.
She is buried in the Convent of San Agustín in neighborhood of La Candelaria, and the Day of the Colombian Woman is celebrated on the day of her execution – November 14. She has been featured on Colombian bills, postage stamps, and in a telenovela, and is considered a heroine of the independence of Colombia. One day when I get to Colombia, one of my first stops will be to the Convent of San Agustín to pay my respects.
