Valentina Ramírez Avitia(14 February 1893 – 4 April 1979) was a Mexican revolutionary andsoldadera.She was known as "La Valentina" and "La leona de Norotal".[1]She fought against theFederalesin theMexican Revolutionat a time when women were not allowed to join the army. Her parallels to the story ofHua Mulanlead to her modern nickname of "The Mexican Mulan" (Spanish:"La Mulán mexicana").[2]
Biography
editRamirez was born in Norotol,Durango,on 14 February 1893.[3]Inspired by her father who was killed early in theMexican Revolution,she decided to enlist. Wearing her brothers clothes, hiding her hair, and assuming the name of Juan Ramírez, Ramírez joined the Maderista Army underFrancisco I. Maderoin 1910.[2]She quickly rose to the rank of lieutenant after a victorious battle inCuliacán.However, after participating in the conflict for only five months and ten days, it was discovered that Ramírez was a woman. On 22 June 1911 she was dismissed from the army.[4]
Later years
editUpon her return home, Ramírez was shunned by her family and she lived in a slum in Sinaloa.[5]She moved toCuliacánand lived there for over twenty years. In 1969, she was hit by a car in the city ofNavolato.She was placed in a nursing home before she escaped. Crippled and without a wheelchair, she lived in a small scrap-metal hut and begged for food. On 4 April 1979, Ramírez died of burn wounds received after a fire in her home.[4]
Legacy
editThecorrido"La Valentina"was composed as a tribute to Avitia.[1]The filmLa Valentinaand the1966 remakewere later inspired by the corrido.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abSirouyan, Cristian (2 April 2020)."La historia de Valentina Ramírez Avitia, la 'Mulán mexicana', heroína de la Revolución cuyo nombre dio origen a la famosa salsa".Clarín(in Spanish).Retrieved21 September2021.
- ^abFauzia, Miriam (17 September 2021)."Fact check: Yes, the popular hot sauce Salsa Valentina is named after Mexico's 'Mulan'".USA TODAY.Retrieved21 September2021.
- ^Gonzales, Paloma (3 April 2020)."Valentina Ramírez Avitia: así fue la Mulan mexicana".GQ Mexico(in Mexican Spanish).Retrieved21 September2021.
- ^abLujano, Benjamin Luna (11 June 2010)."Valentina Ramírez:" La Leona de Norotal "".Periódico Noroeste(in Spanish). Archived fromthe originalon 21 August 2014.
- ^Martínez, Elizabeth Sutherland (2008).500 years of Chicana women's history.New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. p. 56.ISBN978-0-8135-4224-9.OCLC212020035.
- ^García Riera, Emilio (1997).Historia documental del cine mexicano.Guadalajara, Jalisco, México: Universidad de Guadalajara.ISBN9688955418.
- ^Iseman, Courtney (10 August 2021)."The Untold Truth Of Valentina Hot Sauce".Mashed.Retrieved21 September2021.