Malasana y su hija - Eugenio Álvarez Dumont

Manuela Malasaña Oñoro (, March 10, 1791 – May 2, 1808) was a Spanish

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Nota ...

killed by soldiers of

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

during the Second of May Uprising in Madrid. The uprising was part of the

Spanish War of Independence 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, ...

. She was the daughter of a French baker named Jean Malesange, hispanicized "Malasaña", and his wife Marcela Oñoro. She was a

and lived on the fourth floor of 18 San Andres Street, in the neighbourhood which was then known as Maravillas (now commonly known as Malasaña). On May 2, 1808, Manuela was only 17 years old. The legendary version of her death says she fought the French, working in the defense of the Artillery Battery at Monteleón, led by

Luis Daoíz y Torres Luis Daoíz y Torres (10 February 1767 – 2 May 1808) was a Spanish artillery officer and one of the leaders of the Dos de Mayo Uprising that signalled the start of the Peninsular War, Spanish War of Independence. Daoíz's surname is derived f ...

and

Pedro Velarde y Santillán Pedro Velarde y Santillán (25 October 1779 – 2 May 1808) was a Spanish artillery captain famous for his heroic death in the '' Dos de Mayo'' uprisings against the French occupation of Madrid. He became a popular hero and martyr figure for Spa ...

. Her father was purported to fire against the French from the balcony of her house and she supplied him with gunpowder and munitions until she died when she was struck by a bullet. However, the scholar Carlos Cambronero discovered the death certificate of Jean Malasgne, proving that he had died before the uprising took place. It is possible, though not certain, that Manuela Malasaña had fought in the park of artillery Monteleón, as it is known that other women from the neighborhood did, but the generally accepted version is that she would have remained sheltered from the fighting in the embroidery workshop where she worked, by order of the owner of the workshop. When the shooting stopped, she returned home. She had been in possession of a pair of

scissors Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. A pair of scissors consists of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutti ...

and the French soldiers, under the authority of the

Martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

which was in place at the time, accused her of carrying a "weapon" and immediately carried out a

summary execution A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...

by shooting her. According to another version Manuela Malasaña came across French soldiers who tried to grope and molest her. She threatened them with a pair of scissors, for fear of sexual abuse or worse. The French soldiers shot her. Manuela died 18 hours after the uprising in the current Plaza del Dos de Mayo. Her body was registered under number 74 in the list of the 409 victims of that day, the documentation is kept in the military and Municipal Archives of Madrid. She was buried in the Hospital de la Buena Dicha, (today Church of Buena Dicha in Silva Street) which was founded in 1594 and was a home for the poor. Many of the wounded of the 2 May revolt were treated at this hospital, and many of the casualties were buried there. Her portrait is in the Hall of Heroines of the Army Museum and is the work of José Luis Villar and Rodriguez de Castro. Manuela had become known in her neighborhood for her youth and charm, and dying so young and giving her life to the cause of freedom made her a great legend and heroine amongst the people of Madrid. The city of Madrid dedicated to her memory a street bearing her name in her old neighborhood of Maravillas, which crosses San Andres Street near where she lived. By extension, from the '80s, all of the Maravillas district became known as the Malasaña neighbourhood in Madrid. The nearby town of

Móstoles Móstoles () is a municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. With over 200,000 inhabitants, it is the region's second most populated municipality after Madrid. Móstoles was a small town for a long time, but expanded rapidly in the ...

also honoured her with a street and a metro station on line 12 (MetroSur).

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