Sor juana ines dela cruz biography wikipedia

Born on November 12, 1651 (though there is some dispute about the year), in San Miguel Neplantla, Mexico, Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez was the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish father and Creole mother.

Her maternal grandfather owned property in Amecameca and Juana spent her early years living with her mother on his estate, Panoaya.

Juana was a voracious reader in her early childhood, hiding in the hacienda chapel to read her grandfather’s books from the adjoining library.

She composed her first poem when she was eight years old. By adolescence, she had comprehensively studied Greek logic, and was teaching Latin to young children at age thirteen. She also learned Nahuatl, an Aztec language spoken in Central Mexico, and wrote some short poems in that language.

At age eight, after her grandfather’s death, Juana was sent to live in Mexico City with her maternal aunt.

She longed to disguise herself as a male so that she could go to university but was n