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Welcome to the History Extra podcast.

She led a life that really in many ways shouldn't have been possible. So says historian Paul Gillinghamon Sohuana Inez de la Cruz. This 17th century polymath and nun challenged

conventions in so many ways, earning through her extraordinary books and poems a place in the pantheon

of great Mexican literary figures,

and directing more than a few barbs at the patriarchy along the way. Here in conversation with

Spencer Mizzin, Paul discusses the life of a woman he describes as the Spanish Shakespeare.

So Paul, we're here today to talk about the life of Swarjana Inez de la Cruz,

a Mexican poet, dramatist, scholar and nun who lived in the second half of the 17th century. Now, my guess

is that a lot of our listeners won't know a lot about her. So I wonder if you could begin by giving us a quick

introduction to this remarkable woman. Who was So Juan Enez de la Cruz in a nutshell?

So she was born in central Mexico, just underneath the volcano, Popo Cetebitl, next to Mexico

city. In either 1648 or 1651, we're not sure. Her mother

was the owner or the family of an asienda, so a large estate. Her father, depends which

variant you take, was a Spanish rogue who got Donnier-abel, her mother pregnant, not once but three times,

but then disappeared each time. And so you have in Sorjana a child of privilege, but she's Spanish,

born in Mexico, which makes her a Creole, a second-class citizen, and she's illegitimate. And you might think that this

...