There was once a city so rich in silver that greedy colonialists did everything to extract and gain the most from it. The Peruvian city of Potosí, in what is now Bolivia, soon became one of the most profitable metropolia in the entire American continent, with that came also rampage and crime like the city had never seen before. But just as the rowdy Gotham has its own Batman and Robin, back in the 17th century, Potosí had two brave swashbucklers, the young Ana Lezama de Urinza and Eustaquia de Sonza.
Every good story needs a good set of complementary heroes, and Ana and Eustaquia really complimented each other. Ana was an orphan girl who lived in the streets, Eustaquia was a wealthy kid with a bright future ahead. Well, that back in the day when marrying well was the ultimate dream a woman could have. Still, these two girls from completely different backgrounds somehow became great friends, and eventually, Ana was adopted by Eustaquia’s family, giving her the education and love she could’ve never found on the streets.
Now, before we continue with the story of these incredible women, we have to delve a little bit more into the setting that saw these two become real heroes. Potosí, a town vast in metals, belonged back then to the Viceroyalty of Peru. Potosí became so wealthy (though not for its own benefit) that even became a synonym of riches. As a matter of fact, legend has it, the origin of the dollar sign comes from Potosí’s mint mark, which was the overlapping of the letters PTSI. Back to Potosí. All that wealth was obviously extracted and stolen from Potosí by Spanish and other European barons and miners, leaving no profit for the local people. This situation, together with the fame the town had increased the level of crime and bandits in the area.
This was the environment in which Ana and Eustaquia were raised. The de Sonza family did their best to raise these two girls as society ladies; teaching them how to dance, embroider, cook, flirt, you know all those things that make a lady a pawn in society’s game. But these two had very rebellious souls. Eustaquia had a brother, and just as they were being taught how to become socialite women, her brother was being raised to become a great gentleman and a good soldier. He attended fencing lessons, he would train to firearms and ride horses, and above all, he was academically educated.
As the defiant girls Ana and Eustaquia were, they couldn’t care less about becoming ladies and focused more on the lessons Eustaquia’s brother was receiving, often sneaking throughout the residency to watch and learn useful things in their minds. Soon, both girls became quite skilled in fighting, riding, and swords playing. When Eustaquia’s brother died unexpectedly, the family agreed that the girls were quite good on these matters and decided to hire a tutor for them.
Still, despite the family’s approval of their learning and training, they were extremely protected and could only perform these activities at home. Wanting to put their new skill set in motion, Ana and Eustaquia devised a plan to sneak out of the house to fight. They would disguise themselves as soldiers and escape with some help from their household servants.
At first, Ana and Eustaquia would often go out looking for random people to duel and fight with; they were all about the adrenaline and didn’t really think about doing a greater good. But their relationship changed one good day when both women were wounded after fighting a group of bandits. They managed to go back home, but both realized this was more than a mere friendship or even a sister-like relationship, they really loved each other in a romantic way. But not only that, they recognized they were good at fighting and had to put their skills for the benefit of their city. Soon, Ana and Eustaquia became this amazing duo of teen vigilantes that became known with the name of “The Valiant Peruvian Ladies of Potosí.”
Together, as partners (not only against crime) but emotionally involved, they found their true selves and, with it, became even more powerful. But their justice-bringing couldn’t be kept only in Potosí, and soon, Ana and Eustaquia set foot to clean Peru’s towns and cities from crime. After years of fighting bandits all over the viceroyalty, Eustaquia and Ana were forced to go back home when Eustaquia’s father passed. She was his only heir, and both resolved to settle back in Potosí. Still, they remained quite active in their hero gigs until Ana was deadly wounded and passed. Eustaquia couldn’t handle the pain and died of heartbreak just four months later.
Despite the fact that very little is known about them and that their story has merged with legend, the lives of the great vigilante heroines Ana Lezama de Urinza and Eustaquia de Sonza were short but full of meaning and great adventures. Besides their sense of justice, the greatest lesson these women give us is the bravery to step out of society’s norms and what’s expected from us. They always pushed these barriers to be themselves, and four centuries later, there’s still much more we can learn from characters like these.
Illustrations of Mary Read and Anne Bonny from A General History of the Pyrates, 1724.
