Born: 23 January 1803, Colombia
Died: 19 January 1861
Country most active: Colombia
Also known as: María Josefa Acevedo Sánchez de Gómez
The following is excerpted from “400 Outstanding Women of the World and the Costumology of Their Time” by Minna Moscherosch Schmidt, published in 1933.
This distinguished Colombian lady was born in Bogota in 1803 and was the daughter of Don Jose Acevedo Gomez, the illustrious Tribune of 1810. (He was one of the patriots who on July 20, 1810, declared the War of Colombian Independence, and the one who died in a wild forest of the country accompanied only by his oldest son, while fleeing from the persecution of the Spaniards) and of Dona Catalina Sandrez de Tejada; she was the sister and relation of a large number of patriots who played an important role in the War for Independence of Colombia. She accompanied her mother when the latter was exiled and confined by the Spaniards to a miserable village which lacked the most necessary means of living. She was perhaps the most illustrious woman of her time and contributed several good works to Colombian literature among which we find various sad episodes of the Regime of Terror which prevailed during her time. Her husband was the patriot Dr. Diego Fernando Gomez. She died in Pasca in 1861. The epistolary correspondence of Dona Josefa reveals a rare culture and a most instructive and pleasing style.