Petronila Riquelme
Petronila Riquelme | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Petronila Riquelme Rodríguez c. 1808 Hacienda Las Canteras near Los Ángeles, Captaincy General of Chile, Spanish Empire |
| Died | 29 March 1870 (aged 61–62) Chilean Sea near Valparaíso, Chile |
Resting place | Cementerio Nᵒ 1 de Valparaíso |
| Other names | Petronila O'Higgins Petronila Riquelme O'Higgins Petronila Riquelme O'Higgins de Pequeño Petronila Riquelme y Letelier |
| Occupation | Servant |
| Spouse |
José Toribio Pequeño
(m. 1837, separated) |
| Children | 5 |
| Father | Bernardo O'Higgins |
| Relatives | Rosa Rodríguez y Riquelme (aunt) Isabel Riquelme (grandmother) Ambrosio O'Higgins, 1st Marquess of Osorno (grandfather) |
| Family | O'Higgins family |
Petronila Riquelme Rodríguez (c. 1808 – 29 March 1870), known posthumously as Petronila O'Higgins, was a Chilean and Mapuche–Pehuenche servant and the unacknowledged daughter of Bernardo O'Higgins.[1][2]
Early life
Riquelme was born around 1808 at her father's estate Hacienda Las Canteras[a] near Los Ángeles to Bernardo O'Higgins and Patricia Rodríguez, a Mapuche–Pehuenche servant and nanny to the O'Higgins family.[1][2][3] As O'Higgins' unacknowledged daughter, Riquelme was given her paternal grandmother's, Isabel Riquelme, surname as her second family name.[4] Through her father's relationship with Rosario Puga, Riquelme was the elder half-sister of Pedro Demetrio O'Higgins.[2]
Riquelme spent her early years at the Hacienda Las Canteras alongside both her parents.[2] Though technically a servant, Riquelme held a special status in the household and received an education.[2][4] On 19 July 1823, Riquelme joined her father, grandmother, half-brother and aunt Rosa Rodríguez y Riquelme in exile in Peru.[2]
Personal life
In 1837, Riquelme married José Toribio Pequeño, a Peruvian Criollo who later became the administrator of O'Higgins' estates.[1][5] Riquelme's marriage certificate lists her name as Petronila Riquelme y Letelier, and her parents as Nicolás Riquelme and Juana Letelier.[2] Riquelme's grandmother was listed as her godmother.[1]
Riquelme and Pequeño had five children.[1][2] Following the breakdown of her marriage in the late 1840s, Riquelme remained in Peru whilst her husband traveled to Chile with the couples five children.[1] In 1870, Riquelme boarded a steamship from Callao to Valparaíso, but died of a On 29 March 1870 died of a heart attack 7 miles from port.[1][2] Riquelme was buried at Cementerio Nᵒ 1 de Valparaíso.[2]
Riquelme is the great-great-grandmother of the filmmaker Pamela Pequeño, and is the subject of Pequeño's 2001 documentary La hija de O'Higgins.[2]
Notes
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Mujeres con historia... Petita O'higgins Riquelme Rodríguez". Archivo Nacional de Chile (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "La hija ninguneada de O'Higgins". La Tercera (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
- 1 2 Garretón Munita, Luis (20 August 2020). "Bernardo OHiggins y el pueblo Mapuche" [Bernardo O'Higgins and the Mapuche people]. La Tribuna (in Spanish). Los Ángeles, Chile. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
- 1 2 Antías, Luis Osvaldo Igor (7 March 2020). "En el Día de la Mujer: "Petita" la Hija de O'Higgins". Linares en Línea (in Spanish). Linares, Chile. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
- ↑ Areco, Macarena (25 October 2001). "Tras un secreto de familia". Mapuche (in Spanish). Centro de Documentación Mapuche, Ñuke Mapu. Retrieved 18 March 2026.