Ana Cardoso Calvo (c.1650 - c.1715) was an enslaved mother, whose life and eventual freedom is seen to exemplify the experiences of enslaved Costa Rican women in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Her descendants include former presidents, such as

Oscar Arias Sanchez Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

, as well as the writer Carlos Luis Fallas Sibaja.

Biography

Born c.1650 in Cartago, Costa Rica, Cardoso's mother was an enslaved woman owned by Ana Pereira Cardoso. At around twenty years old Cardoso was purchased for 300 pesos by Spanish colonisers Tomás Calvo and his wife, Eugenia de Abarca. Their son, Miguel Calvo, began a sexual relationship with Cardoso, and over the following twenty years she had at least five children with him. Technically these children were owned by their grandmother, Eugenia. In 1687, Eugenia sold her grandson Francisco to his father Miguel; Miguel freed him the same day. Four years later, in 1691, Eugenia sold her grand-daughters Maria (born 1682) and Feliciana (born 1685) to their father, who, again, promptly freed them. In colonial Costa Rica, children and women were more likely to be

manumitted Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...

than adult men. Cardoso was 'freed' in 1689 by Eugenia, however she was obliged to remain in service until the older woman's death. This came in 1692. Two further children were born free in 1691 and 1694. In 1715, Miguel created his will, leaving Cardoso goods from his house up to the value of 200 pesos. It also recognised his children as heirs, and bequeathed other enslaved people to them.

Legacy

Cardoso's life is seen by Russell Lohse to exemplify that of enslaved women from this period. In the same way

Quince Duncan Quince Duncan was born in 1940 in San José, Costa Rica. He is regarded as Costa Rica's first Afro-Caribbean writer in the Spanish language. His works typically concern the Afro-caribbean population living on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast, part ...

and

Carlos Meléndez Chaverri Carlos Meléndez Chaverri (23 June 1926 – 12 June 2000) was a Costa Rican historian. Meléndez was the son of Saturnino Lizano and Chaverri Orfilia Chacon. He married María Lourdes Doubles Umaña, who bore him five children: Silvia María, Lu ...

, refer to the change in circumstance of her life as one that was common, but often unrecorded, and a significant contributor to the development of Costa Rican society. Many of her descendants include former

Presidents of Costa Rica President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

, such as

. Another was the writer Carlos Luis Fallas Sibaja.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardoso (enslaved woman), Ana 17th-century women 18th-century women Former slaves Costa Rican women 1710s deaths