Francisca Josefa de la Concepción


Francisca Josefa de la Concepción was a Criolla nun and mystic in the region of New Kingdom of Granada which later became Colombia. The first recorded woman writer of Colombia, her devotional and autobiographical writings were published posthumously.
Her work has been studied by Dario Achury Valenzuela, Constanza Toquica, Ángela Inés Robledo,, Elisa Mújica, José María Vergara y Vergara, and Daniel Alejandro Montes, among others, who recognize her as one of the most prominent writers of Colombian colonial literature.

Personal life

Francisca Josefa de Castillo y Guevara was born into a wealthy family on October 6, 1671 in Tunja, which at the time was part of the New Kingdom of Granada. Her father, Francisco Ventura de CastiIlo y Toledo, an hidalgo colonist originally from Illescas in Spain, was initially appointed General lieutenant of the city and then Mayor. Her mother, María Guevara Niño y Rojas, was a native criolla of Tunja of Basque descent. Francisca Josefa had three siblings whose names were Catalina and Pedro Antonio Diego. Her other sister's name remains unknown.
As a young woman she became a Poor Clare nun at the Royal Monastery of St. Clare, located in her town, where she spent the rest of her life within its walls. She was later appointed abbess of the community three times.

Selected works