María de la Concepción Marcela Argüello y Moraga, commonly referred to simply as Concepción Argüello, or "Conchita", (February 19, 1791 – December 23, 1857) was an

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

n noted for her romance with

Nikolai Rezanov Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov (, – ), a Russian nobleman and statesman, promoted the project of Russian colonization of Alaska and California to three successive Emperor of All Russia, Emperors of All Russia—Catherine the Great, Paul, and Alexa ...

, a Russian promoter of the colonization of Alaska and California.

Biography

She was the

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show r ...

of José Darío Argüello, the Spanish governor of

and Presidio Commandante. She was born at the

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part ...

and at 15 she fell in love with

, the visiting head of a Russian expedition to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. His expedition had hard times in California and his involvement with Argüello was at first motivated by practical considerations, since the Spanish Crown did not permit giving aid to Russians. But the pair fell in love, and Rezanov returned to Russia to ask the

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

for permission to marry Argüello. During his return trip across

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

in 1807, he fell from his horse, became sick and died in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

, where he is buried. According to a traditional account, Argüello never learned his fate and continued to wait for him nearly till the end of her life, rejecting all other men. Late in her life, she became a Dominican

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

at Santa Catalina Monastery and Academy which was founded in

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

in 1851, where she was given the

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...

of Sister Mary Dominica, O.P. She thereby became the first native Californian to enter the Dominican Order. The community she entered, which later became the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, soon moved to Benicia. She remained a member of the community until her death there in 1857. According to another source, Argüello was waiting for the pope's permission to marry Rezanov, as he was a member of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

and not a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. She learned of Rezanov's death a year later in 1808, when the head of the Russian American Company, Alexander Baranov, wrote to her brother. Although freed from her engagement, she chose to stay single and later became a nun. Argüello died in 1857 and is now buried in St. Dominic's Cemetery, Benicia, where her remains were moved from the cemetery of St. Catherine Convent in 1894, when it closed. A monument marks her grave.

In culture

* Francis Bret Harte wrote a ballad describing her fate, in which Rezanov is referred to as ''Count von Resanoff, the Russian, envoy of the mighty Czar''. * Novel ''Concha: My Dancing Saint'' by Rebecca Lawrence Lee * Soviet

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

'' Juno and Avos'' describes Concepción Argüello's love story. * Concepción Argüello is a character Christopher Moore's novel ''Secondhand Souls''. * For the various branches of the last name in both the Western Hemisphere and in Spain see also Argüello
''Viva Concha!''
a chamber musical based on Concepción Arguello's story and written b
Candace Forest
premiered at the Victoria Theater in San Francisco in 2006 -a new adaptation is in the works.

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Concepción Argüello on The California Museum's California Legacy TrailsPortrait of Concepción Argüello
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arguello, Concepcion 1791 births 1857 deaths People of Alta California Dominican nuns Burials in Solano County, California