Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, O.S.H. was a scholar, philosopher, composer, poet, and Hieronymite nun of New Spain.

Living during Mexico’s colonial period, de la Cruz was an early contributor to Mexican literature and the Spanish Golden Age. In addition to her native Spanish, she was fluent in Latin and Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs.

Barred from continuing formal studies at the university due to her sex and disallowed by her mother from disguising herself as a boy, de la Cruz continued her studies in private.^[1] She was self-educated in her library, which was mostly inherited from her grandfather.

Eventually, she joined a convent, in part to have the time to dedicate to her studies and writing. After joining the nunnery, she began writing poetry and prose, covering topics such as love, feminism, and religion.

She is now pictured on the reverse of the 200 pesos bill issued by the Banco de Mexico, and she appeared on the 1000 pesos coin minted between 1988 and 1992.

While we don’t know Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s sexuality for sure, we do know that she penned love poems to her friend Marie Louisa, leading some scholars to speculate that she was either lesbian or bisexual.