María Antonia Santos Plata

Biography

María Antonia Santos Plata María Antonia Santos Plata (10 April 1782–28 June 1819) was a Neogranadine peasant, rebel leader, and heroine. Santos Plata was born in 1782 in the town of Pinchote, in what is now modern-day Colombia. In the late 1810s, she helped galvanize, organize, finance, and lead pro-Bolívar rebel guerrillas from the Province of El Socorro against invading royalist Spanish troops during the Reconquista of the New Granada. Her brother, Fernando Santos Plata, was the commander of the rebels. At her hacienda, rebels and formed two companies of fighters. These rebels pushed back against Spanish invasion and siege, and fought in important battles such as Pantano de Vargas and the monumental Battle of Boyacá. Additionally, Santos Plata and her compatriots allegedly carried out espionage, and smaller-scale...

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