"La Pola"
A revolutionary heroine, neogranadine seamstress spy of the 1814 Spanish America Reconquista in Colombia. Formally known as Policarpa Salavarrieta was a beautiful, feisty and fiercely patriotic 26-year-old who, determined to join the resistance movement in Colombia.
She used her skills as a seamstress to the secure jobs with wives and daughters of royalists and officers of the opposition. This allowed her to listen in on important information, gather maps or plans, identify key royalists and those who were suspected of treason.
"La Pola" was responsible for collecting money, buying equipment, making uniforms and transporting and hiding soldiers. She was also one of the movement’s best and most trusted recruiters
“La Pola” stood firm in her beliefs even moments before death. She was caught and sentenced to death by a firing squad at the Bolívar Square in Bogota on November 14, 1817.
Her last words were heard,
“I have more than enough
courage to suffer this death
and a thousand more.
Do not forget my example.”
Courageously she turned to face death.
One hundred and fifty years later, Novemeber 14 was declared “Day of the Colombian Woman” in honor of "La Pola's"death. She is the only non-allegorical female to be depicted on Colombian banknotes. A statue of her resides in Bogotá’s most renowned square.