Mercedes Fontecilla | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Lady of Chile | |
| In role August 20, 1814 – October 2, 1814 | |
| President | José Miguel Carrera |
| Personal details | |
| Born | María Mercedes Fontecilla y Fernández de Valdivieso June 18, 1799 Santiago, Chile |
| Died | May 5, 1853 (aged 53) Santiago, Chile |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 9 |
María Mercedes Fontecilla y Fernández de Valdivieso (June 18, 1799 – May 5, 1853) was a First Lady of Chile for less than two months in 1814 through her marriage to José Miguel Carrera. [1]
Biography
Fontecilla was born to Diego Antonio Fontecilla Palacios and Rosa Valdivieso Protusagasti [1] in Santiago.[ citation needed] On 20 August 1814, at 15, Fontecilla married 29 year old José Miguel Carrera, a political leader in Chile, at the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral. [2] [1] [3] Less than two months later, Carrera's forces were defeated in the Battle of Rancagua and the family, including Carrera's two brothers, fled to Mendoza, Argentina. [4] While there, Fontecilla passed secret information between military personnel and sewed clothing for soldiers. [5] Fontecilla supported and was affectionate towards her husband despite his long absences to Anapolis, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires as he sought allies to fight for Chilean independence. [2] [3] [6]
In 1821, Carrera was handed over to Colonel José Albino Gutiérrez as prisoner by his own men. [2] Within days, he was tried, sentenced, and executed. [2] The morning of his death, he wrote Mercedes a letter, in which he told her of his imminent execution and expressed regret for leaving her to care for their five children. [2] Following Carrera's death, Fontecilla and her children lived in extreme poverty in Rosario. [7] Eventually, Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's Supreme Director and one of Carrera's main enemies, allowed them to return to Chile, largely due to "good public relations... [so the public would think] '[O'Higgins] was as generous as he was courageous.'" [5] [7] She later married politician Diego José Benavente, with whom she had four children. [8] [9] [10]
Family
- Marriage:
José Miguel Carrera (1814-1821, his death)
[2]
[11]
- Francisca Javiera Carrera Fontecilla (1817-1850; wife of Francisco Javier Valdés Aldunate and mother of José Miguel Valdés) [1] [7] [2] [9] [12]
- Roberta Carrera Fontecilla [2]
- Rosa Carrera Fontecilla (1819-1862; wife of Ambrosio Aldunate Carvajal, mother of Luis Aldunate) [1] [2] [13]
- Josefa Carrera Fontecilla (1820-1898; wife of José Ramón Lira Calvo) [1] [2]
- José Miguel Carrera Fontecilla (es) (1820-1860); husband of Emilia Pinto Benavente, father of Ignacio Carrera Pinto) [2] [1] [14]
- Marriage: Diego José Benavente [14] [10]
Legacy
There is a school in the Quilicura area of Santiago, Chile named Escuela Mercedes Fontecilla de Carrera. [16] Javiera Díaz de Valdés, a descendent of Fontecilla's sister-in-law Javiera Carrera, portrayed her in the Chilean miniseries Héroes. [17] [18]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Carrera Verdugo José Miguel" (in Spanish). Anales de la Republica. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "EL AMOR, PRESENTE EN LA HISTORIA DE UNO DE LOS PRÓCERES DE NUESTRA PATRIA" (in Spanish). Archivo Nacional. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ a b "Jose Miguel Carrera Verdugo" (in Spanish). Aurora de Chile. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "Muerte del General José Miguel Carrera" (in Spanish). La Discusion. 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ a b "Las libertadoras de San Martín" (in Spanish). CONICET. 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ "EL AMOR PRESENTE, EN LA HISTORIA DE UNO DE LOS PRÓCERES DE NUESTRA PATRIA" (in Spanish). Archivo Nacional. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ a b c Chambers, Sarah C. Families in War and Peace: Chile from Colony to Nation.
- ^ Reyes del Villar, Soledad. Javiera Carrera. Y la formación del Chile republicano (in Spanish).
- ^ a b Vidal, Virginia. Javiera Carrera, madre de la patria (in Spanish). p. 128.
- ^ a b c d e f "Diego Jose Benavente Bustamante" (in Spanish). Anales de la Republica. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "GENEALOGIA DE LA FAMILIA CARRERA (DE LA CARRERA)" (in Spanish). La familia Carrera. 2020-05-06. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ Mettele, G.; Rendall, J.; Hagemann, K. Gender, War and Politics: Transatlantic Perspectives, 1775–1830. p. 347.
- ^ Valdés, Ambrosio. Carrera: revolución chilena y campañas de la independencia, con un apéndice sobre la jenealojía de la familia del Jeneral (in Spanish).
- ^ a b Swinburn, Daniel (2018-09-19). "Donan valiosas cartas inéditas de la familia de José Miguel Carrera" (in Spanish). Economia y negocios. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ "Benavente, Diego Jose" (in Spanish). icarito. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "Escuela Mercedes Fontecilla de Carrera" (in Spanish). Escuela Mercedes Fontecilla de Carrera. n.d. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "Descendientes de... Los famosos con sangre histórica" (in Spanish). El Mercurio. 2006-10-08. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ "José Miguel Carrera, Príncipe de los Caminos" (in Spanish). 13th Festival Cultural de Mayo. 2010. Retrieved 2022-02-26.