Josefa Venancia de la Encarnación Camejo (18 May 1791 – 5 July 1862) also known as La Camejo and Doña Ignacia, is recognized in the

National Pantheon of Venezuela The National Pantheon of Venezuela (''Panteón Nacional de Venezuela'') is a final resting place for national heroes. The Pantheon (Latin ''Pantheon'', from Greek ''Pantheon,'' meaning " Temple of all the Gods") was created in the 1870s on th ...

as one of the heroines of the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...

, supporting the patriotic cause.

Biography

Camejo was born in a distinguished family, the daughter of Miguel Camejo and Sebastiana Talavera y Garcés, her parents were the owners of the estate where she lived, Aguaque. She attended school in the city of

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and then was sent by her parents to

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

to continue her studies. There, she met the beginnings of independence of Venezuela, which occurred on April 19, 1810. In 1811, at 20 years of age, Camejo moved to live with her mother in Barinas where her uncle monsignor Mariano de Talavera y Garcés, who was secretary of the Patriotic Society of Mérida and who had great influence on the education of his niece. Before the offensive of the

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

, and encouraged by her uncle, Camejo gathered a large group of women who wanted to participate in the armed struggle, and asked the governor of the Province, Pedro Briceño del Pumar, to have them for the fight, assuring him that: In 1813, she married Juan Nepomuceno Briceño Méndez, who had to take refuge from the progress of the royalists moving to Bogotá, where her first son, Wenceslao, was born. Camejo was in charge of vacating Barinas, driving the entire caravan to her destination, although her mother drowned on the voyage. Pregnant, before the Ocumare del Tuy massacre, she moved to

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where she remains until the

battle of Boyacá The Battle of Boyacá (1819), was the decisive battle that ensured the success of Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada. The battle of Boyaca is considered the beginning of the independence of the north of South America, and is considered i ...

in 1819, whose triumph allows her to return and meet with her husband. In 1820, her uncle Mariano ordered her to stop the Paraguaná insurrection, which she managed to reduce, disposing of weapons and defeating Royalist Chepito González in Baraived, achieving the incorporation of the

Coro Province Coro Province (1811 - 1864) was a province in the Zulia Department of Gran Colombia, and later one of the provinces of Venezuela, after Venezuelan independence in 1830. In 1864 it became one of the States of Venezuela, as Coro State, and was renam ...

to national independence on May 3, 1821 and preparing the arrival of the General's

Rafael Urdaneta Rafael José Urdaneta y Farías (October 24, 1788 – August 23, 1845) was a Venezuelan General and hero of the Spanish American wars of independence. He served as President of Gran Colombia from 1830 until 1831. He was an ardent supporter ...

's troops. She returned to Barinas where her daughter and her husband, who was already very ill, died.

Acknowledgments

* In 2002 during the

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, President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

held the ceremony of symbolic incorporation of Josefa Camejo to the National Pantheon. * The international airport of

Falcón ) , anthem = , image_map = Falcon in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_mapsiz ...

, the state in which Josefa Camejo was born, bears her name

Josefa Camejo International Airport Josefa Camejo International Airport , is an airport serving the Paraguaná Peninsula in Venezuela. The airport is named in honor of Josefa Camejo, a heroine of the Venezuelan War of Independence. On May 22, 2018, Aruba Airlines inaugurated what ...

* In

, Falcón, the monument to the Venezuelan Federation highlights Josefa Camejo. * In Pueblo Nuevo, Falcón state, there is Josefa Camejo Square *Camejo was represented in 2018

currency of Venezuela The currency of Venezuela has been in circulation since the end of the 18th century. The present currency unit in Venezuela is the Venezuelan bolívar. Pre-independence currency Peso = 8 Reales (silver) Escudo = 2 Pesos (gold) Venezuela sha ...

in the 2 BsS bill.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camejo, Josefa 1791 births 1862 deaths 19th-century Venezuelan people Venezuelan revolutionaries People from Falcón Women in the Venezuelan War of Independence Women in 19th-century warfare Women in war in South America