Juliana Josefa Benita Larena Fenollé (16 February 1790,

Ejea de los Caballeros Ejea de los Caballeros (); an, Exeya d'os Caballers; (commonly known simply as Ejea) is a town and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, part of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is one of the five main towns in the ''Comarca de l ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

1835,

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, Spain) was a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

and hero of the Sieges of Zaragoza during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. Larena moved to Zaragoza, Spain at a young age, and was 18 years old when General Lefebvre initiated the French army's first siege on the city in 1808. During the first siege, she worked as a nurse, tending to the wounded on the front line. During the second siege a year later, Larena helped to defend the stronghold located at

Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar :''See Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar (Buenos Aires) for the church in Buenos Aires'' The Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar ( es, Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Zaragoz ...

, one of the most dangerous areas during the siege. On 30 September 1808, General Palafox awarded her the Shield of Distinction ( es, el Escudo de Distinción) for her bravery and provided her a pension, which King

Ferdinand VII , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_plac ...

confirmed on 25 October 1814. Larena died of cholera in 1835, in Zaragoza. On the centenary of the first siege, a street in Zaragoza was renamed ''Calle Juliana Larena'' in her honor.

References

Spanish nurses Women in war in Spain 19th-century Spanish women History of Zaragoza People of the Peninsular War Female wartime nurses 1790 births 1835 deaths Deaths from cholera {{Spain-med-bio-stub