SAENZ, MANUELA

(1797@1856) South American revolutionary, faithful mistress to Simon Bolivar, the liberator of South America from Spanish rule, she shared both his triumphs and later misfortune. Born the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish nobleman, she spent time in a convent only to be expelled. Later she married James Thorne a wealthy British merchant who took her to Lima where, while she lived a respected and envied life, she became exposed to the revolutionary activities to win independence from Spanish rule. Returning to her birthplace of Quito, Ecuador in 1822 she met the triumphant Bolivar at a ball and openly became his consort. Sharing his revolutionary activities, she later saved Bolivar from conspirators who almost assassinated him. After Bolivar's death (from tuberculosis) she was exiled and lived her life as a vendor of sweets and tobacco, until she died in 1856 from diphtheria.