MARIETTA DE VEINTEMILLA: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - HISTORY - 2025

Marietta de Veintemilla (1858 - 1907) was a writer, politician, and feminist born in Ecuador. Thanks to her, there were many changes regarding the role of women in Ecuadorian society in the 19th century. ^one

Between 1876 and 1883, she served as first lady during the government of her uncle, General Ignacio de Veintemilla, since he was single. She was concerned with both the social aspects of the government and the politicians.

By Unknown author (National Photography Archive of Ecuador), via Wikimedia Commons

She was nicknamed "La Generalita", because when her uncle was traveling she took the reins of the Ecuadorian government and army, with the help of officials loyal to Veintemilla. Her participation was especially relevant in 1882, during the civil war against the Veintemilla dictatorship. ^two

Regarding feminist activism, Marietta de Veintemilla implemented radical changes in the way Ecuadorian women behave with her own example. She introduced bright colors to the dress, leaving behind the typical black outfit that was traditional in the ladies.

Veintemilla was also the first to walk through the streets of Quito without male company for protection. Thanks to this, the rest of the Quito women were able to start walking in the company of women through the streets of the city. ³

Marietta de Veintemilla dedicated herself to writing. One of her most famous works was Pages from Ecuador, written from exile when the rebels overthrew her uncle and forced them to leave the country. Although the same author denies it, the work tried to vindicate the figure of Ignacio de Veintemilla. ⁴

When he returned to Ecuador in 1898 he tried to win back allies for General Veintemilla, but he failed in this project. However, she was one of the main feminist figures in Ecuador. Veintemilla encouraged women to write and participate in all areas of society. ⁵

Biography

Early years

Marietta de Veintemilla was born on September 8, 1858 in Ecuador, aboard a boat that was approaching the port, bound for Guayaquil. She was the daughter of General José de Veintemilla Villacís and Marietta Marconi, an Italian opera singer who came to America with the Ferreti Company. ⁶

Her parents met and married in Lima, Peru, but decided to return to Ecuador on the eve of the birth of Marietta de Veintemilla. ⁷

Her mother died when little Veintemilla was about 5 years old, so her father put her education in charge of the Colegio de los Sagrados Corazones, in Quito. In 1869 José de Veintemilla died after rebelling against Dr. García Moreno. ⁸

This is how Marietta was left in charge of her father's brother, Ignacio de Veintemilla, who had great affection for his niece and raised her as his own daughter.

But the family had to separate when General Veintemilla was exiled from Ecuador by the government that considered his entire family a risk to national stability. Meanwhile, Marietta stayed at boarding school.

At that time, Marietta de Veintemilla liked to compose music and sing. She was generally considered from a very young age as a beautiful girl, due to her blue eyes and golden hair, rare in Ecuador at the time.

Youth

In 1879 her uncle, General Ignacio de Veintemilla, became supreme head of the Republic of Ecuador and she moved with him to the Government Palace. Since then Marietta began to exercise the functions of First Lady, as her uncle was single. ⁹

She kept her interest in cultural activities, it would seem that she was the star of the Government Palace, and this in turn the cultural center of the country. Their parties and meetings summoned the intelligentsia, not only from Ecuador, but from Latin America.

In 1881 she married Antonio Lapierre, but the marriage was short. At 10 months of marriage, Marietta de Veintemilla became widowed. ¹⁰

Thanks to her, different works were carried out in Quito, such as the recovery of the Alameda Park, the remodeling of the San Juan de Dios Hospital or the construction of the Sucre Theater.

government

In 1882 conservatives and liberals united against the dictatorship of General Veintemilla. At this time, Marietta de Veintemilla was in charge of governance in Quito, while her uncle was in Guayaquil. ^eleven

The girl went alone against Colonel Vernaza, the Minister of War, from whom she guessed a betrayal before it took place: she would try to raise the troops in the capital of a government that she believed was headless.

However, Marietta de Veintemilla spoke to the soldiers, awakening their loyalty and provoking shouts of cheering for her uncle's government. This is how she earned the nickname "La Generalita".

In January 1883 Veintemilla resisted the rebels' attack in Quito, evaded the betrayal of his own as much as he could and took command of the army with a revolver in hand. Even so, the Government Palace fell, and with it Marietta de Veintemilla, who was imprisoned in the Municipal House for eight months. ¹²

When she was released from prison, the support and sympathy that the capital showed to Veintemilla was such that the government decided to send her into exile in Lima, Peru, for 15 years. It was there that she wrote Pages of Ecuador, a mix between the factual events of national history, with her own experiences and point of view.

Return to Quito

Upon returning from Peru in 1898, Marietta de Veintemilla tried to recover the properties that belonged to her family. Meanwhile, she continued her work as a writer and fighting for the defense of women's rights. ¹³

For a time, between 1900 and 1904, he tried to gather support for the cause of his uncle, Ignacio de Veintemilla, but was unsuccessful and gave up his intentions dedicating himself to writing and private life.

Death

On May 11, 1907, Marietta de Veintemilla died in Quito as a result of malaria. She was the first woman to receive funeral honors from a general. ¹⁴

She left behind her the memory of a brave woman, who earned intellectual respect in the same way that she bravely managed to get the soldiers to follow her with the cry "Long live the Generalita." And that she never forgot her status as a woman and always sought to fight for the rights of her gender.

Plays

It must be taken into account that Marietta de Veintemilla developed in an environment that, until that moment, had been controlled by men. She was well aware of that and it motivated her to cultivate in her performance.

Veintemilla tried to be at the forefront of political, social and scientific advances. He kept his readings up to date with what was happening in the European intelligentsia of the time, without neglecting the classics. ^fifteen

In addition, when he published his own text, he made sure that a photograph was included in it, to avoid being mistaken for a man when someone read his writing.

Marietta de Veintemilla conquered a hostile world in which she would have simply been admired for her beauty or talents considered feminine, such as singing or musical performance.

Ecuador Pages

Pages from Ecuador is the most recognized work of Marietta de Veintemilla. In it she leaves her political ideas settled. It is inevitable that it has a great subjective charge, being a mix between essay, history, novel and autobiography. ¹⁶

With the union of these styles, Veintemilla managed to translate his opinion as the protagonist in the facts. However, he reveals a great knowledge of the motives and circumstances surrounding the revolution and the government of his uncle, General Ignacio de Veintemilla.

Furthermore, it was the only work of its nature written from the perspective of a Latin American woman so far.

The work of Marietta de Veintemilla aroused controversy in its time. Naturally, she received responses from the other parties who might have been offended or who wanted to clarify some of the points from their own perspective. The most famous answer was that of Antonio Flores Jijón.

Other publications

Marietta de Veintemilla also carried out essays that covered different topics and demonstrated her position as a freethinker, the first being “Diesi rae patriótico”, published in La Sanción de Quito, in 1900.

In 1094 the text "Madame Rolland", appeared in the Journal of the Legal-Literary Society, was the excuse of Marietta de Veintemilla to promote the participation of women in the political cause. At the same time, she advocated for equal rights between women and men. ¹⁷

To accomplish this task, Veintemilla uses herself as an example of capacity in situations considered masculine, but she also uses Madame Rolland and other women to demonstrate her point.

In 1904, Marietta de Veintemilla also published another essay, called "Goethe and his poem Fausto", in La Musa Americana. That same year, a work called In memory of Doctor Agustín Leonidas Yerobi also appeared.

Later, on August 10, 1906, the Quito media La Palabra published an essay by Veintemilla entitled "To the heroes of my country." The following year, in 1907, the text Conference on Modern Psychology appeared printed by the Central University of Ecuador.

Marietta de Veintemilla demonstrated through all the means at her disposal that women were perfectly capable of assuming roles that were reserved for men.

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Marieta de Veintemilla. Available at: wikipedia.org.
2. Smith, V. (2014). Concise Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, p.210.
3. En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Marieta de Veintemilla. Available at: wikipedia.org.
4. Veintemilla, M. (1982). Ecuador pages. Guayaquil, Ecuador: Department of Publications of the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Guayaquil.
5. Smith, V. (2014). Concise Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, p.210.
6. Arciniegas, G. (1986). Women and hours. Santiago de Chile: Bello, pp. 143 - 158.
7. Avilés Pino, E. (2018). Veintemilla Marieta de - Historical Characters - Encyclopedia Del Ecuador. Encyclopedia Of Ecuador. Available at: encyclopediadelecuador.com.
8. Arciniegas, G. (1986). Women and hours. Santiago de Chile: Bello, pp. 143 - 158.
9. En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Marieta de Veintemilla. Available at: wikipedia.org.
10. Arciniegas, G. (1986). Women and hours. Santiago de Chile: Bello, pp. 143 - 158.
11. Avilés Pino, E. (2018). Veintemilla Marieta de - Historical Characters - Encyclopedia Del Ecuador. Encyclopedia Of Ecuador. Available at: encyclopediadelecuador.com.
12. Arciniegas, G. (1986). Women and hours. Santiago de Chile: Bello, pp. 143 - 158.
13. En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Marieta de Veintemilla. Available at: wikipedia.org.
14. Vilaña, L. (2014). THE THOUGHT OF MARIETTA DE VEINTEMILLA AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE EMERGENCY OF THE FEMALE SUBJECT IN THE ECUADORIAN NATIONAL CONTEXT, YEARS 1876-1907. CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF ECUADOR.
15. Guardia, S. (2012). Writers of the 19th century in Latin America (History and politics in the essayism of Marietta de Veintemilla. By Gloria da Cunha). 1st ed. CENTER OF STUDIES WOMEN IN THE HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA, pp. 175 - 186.
16. Avilés Pino, E. (2018). Veintemilla Marieta de - Historical Characters - Encyclopedia Del Ecuador. Encyclopedia Of Ecuador. Available at: encyclopediadelecuador.com.
17. Guardia, S. (2012). Writers of the 19th century in Latin America (History and politics in the essayism of Marietta de Veintemilla. By Gloria da Cunha). 1st ed. CENTER OF STUDIES WOMEN IN THE HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA, pp. 175 - 186.