Ana Betancourt de Mora, a woman ahead of her time

Ana Betancourt de Mora, una mujer adelantada a su tiempo

January 14, 1833, marks the date of birth of Ana María Betancourt De Mora, a woman ahead of her time, the first proofreader of the newspaper El Mambí and a distinguished patriot of the city of Camagüey.

On August 17, 1854 she joined her life to Ignacio Mora de la Pera’s, a man of high culture, who taught her English and French, awakened in her an interest in reading, invited her to write with him and correct the proofs of the articles he published in the local newspapers, together they fully identified with the independence movement.

Considered today as one of the forerunners of Cuban and continental feminism, when she proclaimed the redemption of Cuban women in the Assembly of Guáimaro, Ana Betancourt broke the taboo of social inequality and opened the gap for the female battle for the independence of the homeland.

In July 1871 she was surprised in the manigua with her husband, she managed to make him flee, but she fell into the hands of the colonialists, who tried to reduce her spirit of rebellion with physical and psychological damage and ordered her to write to Ignacio Mora de la Pera asking for her surrender; her answer was brief: “I prefer to be the widow of a man of honor than the wife of a man without dignity and sullied”.

Ana managed to escape from the Spanish forces, the efforts made by some relatives caused her to travel to Mexico; she settled in the United States, and then moved to Jamaica and El Salvador, where she worked as a teacher, returning to Jamaica, where she received the news of her husband’s death.

After the Zanjón Pact, Ana Betancourt de Mora returned to her homeland and continued her conspiratorial work, for which she was deported to Madrid, where she met with one of her sisters; in the Spanish capital she restarted her revolutionary activities until she was surprised by death on February 7, 1901.

The mortal remains of the famous Camagüeyana were transferred to Cuba in September 1968 and currently rest in the monument erected in her memory in the town of Guáimaro.

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Acerca de Martha Martínez Duliet

Licenciada en Educación en la especialidad de Historia y Ciencias Sociales en la Universidad de Camagüey. Labora como periodista en Radio Florida desde el año 1993 desempeñándose actualmente como editora del sitio digital de esta emisora. Contactos: Twitter: @MDuliet Facebook: Martha Martínez Duliet Blog personal: soyfloridana@wordpress.com

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