“Why am I on a 200-peso bill?” Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz might have pondered. Today we stand here to celebrate her. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a woman ahead of her time. She defied societal expectations. She pursued knowledge relentlessly.
Sor Juana was born in 1651 in Nepantla. It is a town in the State of Mexico. But she spent most of her life in Mexico City. She was a nun, poet, musician, painter, and cook. Octavio Paz described her as a walking theologian.
In the 17th century women had few choices. They could marry or enter a convent. Sor Juana wished to study. She wasn’t the marrying kind. At 21 Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana joined the convent of Saint Jerome. She became known as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
The convent was founded in 1586. It is one of Mexico City’s oldest buildings. However little remains of the original structure. For 25 years the cloister walls witnessed her life. She was surrounded by admiration and jealousy. Today the yards are no longer filled with nuns. They are now busy with students. Students walk along the restored hallways. The hallways are decorated with Sor Juana’s poetry.
In 1867 the convent was expropriated. It was used as barracks and a slum. It became a warehouse and auto repair shop. There was even a dance school. It was called “El Pirata”. Later it was renamed “Smyrna Dancing Club”.
Before being rescued it was an abandoned building. Now it is the University of the Cloister of Sor Juana. The coffin with her remains is here. Her original wooden rosary is here too. A verse accompanies her grave. It says roughly “Triumphant I want to see who kills me and I kill who wants to see me triumphant.”
Myths shroud Sor Juana’s life. Some say she was sent to the kitchen as punishment. But researcher Lourdes Aguilar Salas claims she had several passions. These included poetry, music, writing and cooking.
To enroll in the convent Sor Juana got support. Jesuit Antonio Núñez de Miranda helped her. Her godfather Governor Pedro Velázquez de la Cadena paid the dowry. It cost three hundred Mexican reals. This was a lot of money then.
Life in the convent gave her privileges. Her cell was a two-story apartment. She had a library with at least four thousand books. She also had a birdcage which wasn’t allowed. Sor Juana even had an entrance hall for guests. She shared her astronomy hobby with poet Sigüenza y Góngora.
Sor Juana had a slave woman named Juana de San José. Her mother gifted her the slave. Aguilar details that Sor Juana had people to do the heavy kitchen work. Cooking was part of her passions.
She observed daily life through science. For example she wondered at sugar’s physical changes. She observed the reactions of an egg fried with butter or oil. Her mind went beyond recipes. She enjoyed witnessing cooking’s alchemy.
Another myth says Sor Juana loved chocolate. Supposedly she changed convents. She wanted to be in one allowing her to eat it. Aguilar Salas explains chocolate was least important. All the Carmelite’s rules were very strict. Her family believed Saint Jerome would be better. It was conceived as a university.
In her book Mónica Lavín explains Sor Juana was an expert on sweets. She sent messages to friends in verses. The latter years of her life were tumultuous. She had a written fight with the Bishop of Puebla. He accused her of arrogance and vanity. Throughout her life Sor Juana had quarrels with her confessor. He wanted her to write less and pray more.
By the end of her life Sor Juana stopped attending the locutory. She began her definitive silence. She passed away caring for the sick. She likely died of typhus or murine typhus.
Even during her last years Sor Juana never stopped writing. She sent riddles to fellow Jerome nuns in Portugal. After dedicating her life to writing she spent her last two years with herself. In 1979 the first cookbook with recipes was published. It had a sonnet by Sor Juana.
We can imagine Sor Juana delighted. She enjoyed Mexican dishes made with sweet potato. She liked many fruits. She savored tubers such as beetroot and dairy products like butter. She enjoyed alfajores and cajeta too. The Jerome nuns had one of the best kitchens. Each order had their own dishes. The nuns took the secrets to their graves. Where the convent stood the University of the Cloister of Sor Juana rises. It is located in the streets of Izazaga 5 de Febrero Isabel la Católica and San Jerónimo.