Background
Angela Jimenez was born in 1886 in Jalapa del Marques, Oaxaca, Mexico. She was the daughter of a Zapotec woman and the Spanish political chief of Tehuantepec.
Angela Jimenez was born in 1886 in Jalapa del Marques, Oaxaca, Mexico. She was the daughter of a Zapotec woman and the Spanish political chief of Tehuantepec.
In 1911 Federal soldiers took over Angela's family home looking for rebels. Angela's sister shot both a Federal officer and herself rather than submit to being raped. Angela decided to join rebel forces to seek revenge on Federal soldiers. At times she dressed as a man and called herself "Angel." She joined her father's command and with him served as a soldadera, banner carrier, explosives expert, spy, and, upon occasion, a cook. She also served in disguise under Villista and Zapatista officers. Jimenez left Mexico and settled in San Jose, California.
Ángela was a defender of the rights of Chicanos in the neighboring northern country. Her revolutionary life apparently was the model used by Elena Poniatowska to draw the character of Jesusa Palancares in Until Not See You, My Jesus. Although there is no picture of Ángela Jiménez, her life is still being investigated for the contributions she made in favor of women during the Mexican revolution.
