Leonor De Ovando facts for kids

Leonor De Ovando (born in 1544, died around 1610) was a Dominican poet and a nun. She is known as the first poet from the Americas. Leonor wrote poems about religious topics, often in a special style called sonnets.

Her Early Life

Leonor De Ovando was born in Santo Domingo around 1544. Her family was wealthy and had Spanish roots. She had at least three brothers or sisters.

When she was young, around 1568, she became a nun at the Regina Angelorum Monastery in Santo Domingo. This monastery had only recently opened, with the first nuns moving in about eight years before Leonor joined.

Life as a Nun

In 1583, Sister De Ovando was chosen to be the prioress, which is like the leader of the nuns in the monastery.

A few years later, in 1586, something big happened. An English privateer named Francis Drake attacked and raided Santo Domingo. The monastery's chapel was destroyed. The nuns, including Leonor, who was about 46 years old, had to leave their home and hide in the countryside.

After Drake left, Sister De Ovando helped lead the efforts to rebuild the monastery. The nuns had to rely on the kindness of their neighbors for several years. Even by 1599, the monastery walls were still only half-built.

Helping Her Community

Sister De Ovando wrote letters to the King of Spain asking for money to help rebuild the convent. She wrote again in 1595 and 1605, still asking for funds.

She also wrote to the King about problems caused by Governor Osorio. The Governor was forcing people to leave their homes in the northern parts of the island between 1605 and 1606. Leonor spoke up for the people, even though some thought nuns should not get involved in such matters.

Sister Leonor De Ovando passed away at the Santa Catalina convent around 1610.

Her Poems

We don't have many of Leonor De Ovando's poems today. We know of only five sonnets and a few other verses. These poems are about her love for God.

She started exchanging poems with another writer, Eugenio de Salazar, in 1574. He was visiting Hispaniola (the island where Santo Domingo is) at the time.

Published Works

Five of Leonor De Ovando's sonnets and some other verses were written between 1574 and 1580. They were kept in a collection of poems called Silva's anthology of poetry. This collection was put together by Salazar between 1585 and 1595. Today, it is kept safe at the Royal Academy of History in Madrid, Spain.

Her poems were not published for a long time. Then, a Spanish literary expert named Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo found them. He included them in his book, Anthology of Hispanic-American Poets.

The poems were part of letters Leonor and Salazar wrote to each other. Four of her five sonnets were written for important Catholic holidays: Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost.

A scholar named Justo Planas said that Leonor's poems show that there was a community of people who could read and write well in Hispaniola a long time ago. Her poems were part of a "concert" or exchange of ideas, showing she was a skilled writer.

See also

In Spanish: Leonor de Ovando para niños