Occupation nun Nationality Spanish Subject Christian mysticism Died 1742, Tunja, Colombia | Language Spanish Period 1694—1742 Notable works Afectos espirituales | |
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Born Francisca Josefa de Castillo y Guevara
6 October 1671
Tunja, New Kingdom of Granada, Viceroyalty of Peru, Spanish Empire ( 1671-10-06 ) Parents María Guevara Niño y Rojas, Francisco Ventura de CastiIlo y Toledo People also search for Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Ávila, Beatriz Ferrús Antón, Angela Inés Robledo, María Eugenia Hernández | ||
Mother Francisca Josefa de la Concepción, O.S.C., was a Criolla nun and mystic in the region of New Spain which later became Colombia. The first recorded woman writer of Colombia, her devotional and autobiographical writings were published posthumously.
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Her work has been studied by Dario Achury Valenzuela, Constanza Toquica, Ángela Inés Robledo, Antonio Gómez Restrepo, Elisa Mújica, José María Vergara y Vergara, and Daniel Alejandro Montes, among others, who recognize her as one of the most prominent writers of Colombian colonial literature.
Personal life
Francisca Josefa de Castillo y Guevara was born into a wealthy family on October 6, 1671 in Tunja, which at the time was part of the New Kingdom of Granada. Her father, Francisco Ventura de CastiIlo y Toledo, an hidalgo colonist originally from Illescas in Spain, was initially appointed General lieutenant of the city and then Mayor. Her mother, María Guevara Niño y Rojas, was a native criolla of Tunja of Basque descent. Francisca Josefa had three siblings whose names were Catalina and Pedro Antonio Diego. Her other sister's name remains unknown.
As a young woman she became a Poor Clare nun at the Royal Monastery of St. Clare, located in her town, where she spent the rest of her life within its walls. She was later appointed abbess of the community three times.