Women and Independence in Latin America

An exploration of women's involvement in the Latin American Wars of Independence

Serafina de González Hoyos de Arenales

Gender:Female

Ethnic origen: Unknown

Events:

1812  -  Salta  -  Unknown  -  She married Juan Antonio Alvarez de Arenales
1814  -  Salta  -  Unknown  -  She organised a women's spy network in Salta.
1814  -  Tucumán  -  Unknown  -  She lived here for 7 years during the independence struggles.
1851  -  Salta  -  Unknown  -  She died in Salta, on 4 August 1851.

Connections:

Women spies for independence cause

Biography:
Born in Salta, Argentina, she married General Juan Antonio de Álvarez de Arenales. She and their children lived in Tucumán for seven years while he was fighting in Chile and Peru. She was at the centre of a women's spy network in Salta and through it she learned that Álvarez de Arenales had been seriously wounded in the battle of La Florida on 25 May 1814. Álvarez de Arenales then used the same network to get in touch with her. He died in Bolivia in 1831; she died in Salta, on 4 August 1851. (Sosa de Newton, 283-284)

References:

Sosa de Newton, Lily (1986) Diccionario biográfico de mujeres argentinas