Gertrudis Bocanegra, freedom fighter of Mexico
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María Gertrudis Teodora Bocanegra Mendoza (1765–1817) fought in the Mexican War of Independence and is known in Mexico as ‘La Heroína de Pátzcuaro’. She was born in Pátzcuaro, daughter of Pedro Javier Bocanegra and Feliciana Mendoza. Her mother was born in New Spain to a Spanish father and Tarascan Indian mother. The Bocanegras were fluent in both Spanish and the Tarascan language, known as Purépecha. Gertrudis married Lieutenant Pedro Advíncula Lazo de la Vega, a soldier in the Spanish provincial forces of Michoacán.
Unusual for a woman of her time, Gertrudis had read the principal authors of the Enlightenment. When Mexico’s War of Independence began, she joined the rebellion. Her husband and eldest son joined the forces of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the leader of the rebellion, in October 1810. Both died at the Battle of the Puente de Calderón.
Getrudis went on to serve as a messenger for the rebellion in the region of Pátzcuaro and Tacámbaro, aiding communications between the principal locations of the rebellion. During the war she was sent to Pátzcuaro, where she was taken prisoner by the Royal army in 1817. She was tortured to reveal the names of other rebels, but she refused to give information to the Spaniards. Finally, she was tried and found guilty of treason. Sentenced to death, she was executed on 11 October 1817 at the Plazuela de San Agustín in Pátzcuaro.
