In 1960, Minerva, her husband, Manolo, and other anti-Trujillo figures organized a resistance campaign known as the 14th of June Movement, named for the date of a failed 1959 coup attempt against Trujillo by Dominican exiles in Cuba. Following the formation of this resistance movement, numerous arrests of resistance figures and their families occurred at the hands of Trujillo and his regime. The heroines thereof were three sisters: Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabal. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Today they are hailed as feminist heroes with numerous books, films, and landmarks that commemorate their sacrifice, the most well known being the 1994 novel, "In the Time of the Butterflies," by Julia Alvarez. The family was keenly aware that invitations of that sort came with strings attached. A few months later, in January of 1960, inspired by Fidel Castro's march into Havana, Minerva Mirabal reportedly stated, "If in Cuba it has been possible to bring down the dictatorship, then in our country, with so many anti-Trujillo youth, we can do the same" while at lunch with Mara Teresa and their husbands.20 [citation needed], After the assassinations, the surviving sister, Ded, devoted her life to the legacy of her sisters. She was the first woman to graduate from law school in the Dominican Republic.[1]. The oldest of the Mirabal sisters, she is the most religious. The parents were business owners whose holdings included a coffee plantation, a warehouse, a processing plant for coffee and rice, cattle, and a butcher shop. The Butterflies were planning to assassinate Trujillo in 1960, but unfortunately less than a month after forming the resistance, their plan was foiled. She and her husband became leaders of an underground resistance called the 14th of June Movement. The youngest sister, Mara Teresa Mirabal, attended the same university, but focused on engineering (via Casas Museo Hermanas Mirabal). He also has remarried and started a new family. In 1994 the house became officially recognized as a museum. He is on his way back to Puerto Plata after a three-night furlough to meet his newborn son in Tamboril. After 30 years of commanding the Dominican Republic's affairs, Rafael Trujillo had managed to draw the disapproval and disdain of most neighboring countries. One of Minerva's friends at Inmaculada Concepcion. The guard at the prison where Minerva and Maria Teresa are held, who brings them things from the outside world and delivers their messages to Patria and Mama, through Margarita. He tries to seduce Minerva at the Discovery Day party. One of Minerva's and Maria Teresa's cellmates at the jail, whom Maria Teresa calls "our little birdseed bell." Time Magazine reports the police would broadcast the screams of prisoners over the P.A. The men were placed in solitary confinement in a prison called la 40, which was notorious for extreme torture, including electric shock and pulling off pris-oners' fingernails. "Santiclo" means "Santa Claus," and it is their code name for him. One of the Mirabal homes in Salcedo, whose construction was overseen by Minerva in 1954, has been converted into the Mirabal Sisters Museum. He, along with all of the husbands, is imprisoned in La Victoria. The novel was turned into a 2001 TV movie of the same name starring Salma Hayek as Minerva and Edward James Olmos as Trujillo; another drama about the Mirabals, Trpico de Sangre (2010), starred Michelle Rodriguez as Minerva. The average Dominican citizen lived in a constant state of fear. The Mirabal family was well regarded and was invited to high-level social functions and activities, even one hosted by Trujillo. The couple had only one son, who died shortly after birth. [5], In 1960, Minerva and Mara Teresa were incarcerated from January 22 to February 7, then from May 18 to August 9. They were major players in the underground resistance to Trujillo's dictatorship, who had been in power for nearly 30 years before the movement. After the deaths of her sisters, she raised their six children in addition to her own three sons. Minerva was married to Manuel Aurelio Tavrez Justo, or Manolo, whom she attended school with and met while on vacation in Jarabacoa in 1954. [2], The assassinations turned the Mirabal sisters into "symbols of both popular and feminist resistance". I can say: I have raised an honest family., Overlooked No More: Ded Mirabal, Who Carried the Torch of Her Slain Sisters, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/obituaries/dede-mirabal-overlooked.html. "[8], Blgica Adela Mirabal Reyes (1 March 1925 1 February 2014), commonly known as Ded, was the second daughter of the Mirabal family. The sisters were taken aside by Trujillo's men, then clubbed and strangled to death. Minerva and Manolo's daughter, who lives with Dede in 1994 and has a husband and baby of her own. Blgica Adela Mirabal Reyes was born on March 1, 1925, to Enrique Mirabal Fernndez and Mercedes Reyes Camilo. Prior to this, beginning in 1916, the United States occupied the country in an effort to prevent Germany from taking control and launching attacks during World War I,as per the U.S. Department of State. He is married to Tia Flor and is the father of Raul and Berto. [27] She published a book, Vivas en su Jardn, on 25 August 2009. One of the Mirabals' uncles, who lives in La Vega. The Mirabal sisters grew up in this climate of tyrannical terror, which would not only dictate their paths to fight for justice, but would also eventually cause their untimely and brutal deaths. Minerva Mirabal was by far the most politically active of her sisters. "Something was wrong with the frail, old woman--she was forgetting the simplest things.". She did not become involved with her sisters' political work. March 5, 2020 6:37 AM EST. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, the dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. Minerva was the most vocal and radical of the Mirabal daughters. She is married to Tio Pepe. The Mirabal sisters were on their way home from visiting their husbands in prison at the time of their death. One of Minerva's and Maria Teresa's cellmates in jail. After the death of the three Mirabal sisters, their legacy has been commemorated due to the large amount of gender-based violence within Latin America. The responsibility for my sisters sons and daughters was what kept us going, she wrote, though it was a challenge to explain how they had lost their mothers without letting it affect them psychologically.. Mirabal Sister's Marriage Family Tree Patria married Pedrito Gonzales in 1941. [6], Last edited on 28 September 2022, at 01:24, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, "Violence and discrimination against women, a very serious problem in the Dominican Republic", "How the Mirabal Sisters Helped Topple a Dictator", "Biografa de Minerva Mirabal | El Da Nacionales", "The Mirabal Sisters: A Global Symbol of Violence Against Women", "In the Time of the Butterflies: The Mirabal Sisters", "The Murder of the Mirabal Sisters in the Dominican Republic", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minerva_Mirabal_Reyes&oldid=1112769601, This page was last edited on 28 September 2022, at 01:24. "The Parsley Massacre" took place on October 2, 1937 the Dominican military armed with machetes slaughtered men, women, and children (via NPR). However, he did so by exploiting farmers and lower classes to enrich himself and his loyalists. Maria Teresa Mirabal and Patria Mirabal, along with both their husbands, joined their sister, Minerva, in the movement. Today the Mirabal sisters are considered symbols of feminism in Latin America. He developed a personality cult with statues of himself across the country and his portrait in every home, Biographics reports. In the Time of the Butterflies study guide contains a biography of Julia Alvarez, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. During their lives, the sisters were incarcerated several times and finally ambushed and brutally assassinated on November 25,1960, by the secret police. In addition to her father being arrested, Minerva Mirabal and her mother were taken into police custody after the party. A urologist in Santiago. [6] The fourth Mirabal sister, Dede, was not with them at the time of their death. Minerva's friend and fellow revolutionary, who first explains to Minerva that Trujillo's regime is evil. [15] Due to her previous rejection of Trujillo's advances, when Minerva graduated, her diploma was stripped of her honors and her license to practice law was ultimately turned down. Palomino. One of the Mirabals' cousins, on whom Maria Teresa has a crush as a young girl. [12], Mara Argentina Minerva Mirabal Reyes (12 March 1926 25 November 1960), commonly known as Minerva, was the third daughter. In 1959, the Mirabal sisters, Minerva's husband Manuel Aurelio "Manolo" Tavrez Justo, and many others founded the revolutionary movement Movimiento 14 de Junio (June 14 th Movement), known as 1J4. On 17 December 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in honor of the sisters. She is "such a thin woman with fly-about hair in her face.". Patria's husband was not incarcerated but she went along for moral support. Although she felt that this would compromise her ideas, she also felt that education would be the key in her struggle against the regime. From 1930 to 1961, the Dominican Republic was in the hands of Rafael Lenidas Trujillo Molina, who ruled the country under a dictatorship (via Biography). One of Minerva's and Maria Teresa's cellmates in jail. This resulted in house arrest at her parents' home where she spent her time painting and writing poetry about the injustices she has endured due to the exploitation and dictatorship in her country. Julia Alvarez wrote a novel In the Time of Butterflies (1994), a fictionalized account of the lives of the Mirabal sisters that deals with this issue. When she was 22, Minerva had a personal experience with Trujillo, at an elitist party she and her family were invited to, turning down his sexual advances,[2] causing her to be jailed and not able to practice her law degree. The family lived on a prosperous farm near the city of Salcedo, where they also operated a coffee mill and a general store. Their childhood home was converted into the museum that Ded Mirabel headed. Manolo is killed three years after Minerva. However, in May they were rearrested, taken to la 40" and sentenced to 30 years. People all over the country were outraged that Trujillo would go so far as to kill women. As the sole Mirabal sister who survived Trujillos regime, Ded was left to wrestle with her guilt and find meaning in being alive. Together, they formed the 14th of June Movement in the early 60s. [citation needed], The 200 Dominican pesos bill features the sisters, and a stamp was issued in their memory. The assassinations of the Mirabal sisters, who were also known as The Butterflies, acted as a catalyst for the downfall of Trujillo's regime, which ended about a year after their deaths, because of their national popularity. In the Dominican Republic, a monumerit that Trujillo had built to himself has been changed and now the 137-foot obelisk is a mural with the image of the three murdered sisters and the surviving sister Dede. [28], However, the details of the Mirabal sisters' assassinations were "treated gingerly at the official level" until 1996, when President Joaqun Balaguer was forced to step down after more than two decades in power. The police catch her while she is leaving the convent. During a performance for Trujillo and his son Ramfis, she comes dangerously close to shooting Trujillo with a bow and arrow. On March 12, 1926 Minerva Mirabal is the 3rd born out of the 4 Mirabal sisters in Ojo de Agua, Dominican Republic. [3] The post-Balaguer era has seen a marked increase in homages to the Mirabal sisters, including an exhibition of their belongings at the National Museum of History and Geography in Santo Domingo. The main reason for this attitude was Joaquin Balaguer, the Dominican Republic's figurehead president during Trujillo's dictatorship, who remained in power until 1996. As Rejected Princessesnots, he had the sisters' husbands transferred to a facility that would force them to drive through a remote area in order to visit them. [19], Later in her life, Mara Teresa dated Leandro Guzmn. [21] The three husbands were incarcerated in January at La Victoria Penitentiary in Santo Domingo, then, in November, two of then were transferred to Puerto Plata. Their deaths were seen as the straw that broke the camel's back and led to Trujillo's removal from power (via History). He is "a tall, handsome man with a worried face.". This is the moment Trujillo began his vendetta against Minerva. The regime's cover story of an "accident backfired. However, Delia reports later that she has left and sought asylum, abandoning the movement. Following the formation of their "Movement of the Fourteenth of June" group, theVintage News reports sisters Minerva Mirabal and Maria Teresa Mirabal, along with their husbands, were rounded up one by one and sent to La Victoria Penitentiary in the capital. The martyred sisters pricked the conscience of the Dominican people in a way that the deaths of Trujillos other victims had not. Maria Teresa has a crush on both of them as a young girl. Under orders from Trujillo, a group of six specially selected members of the secret military police ambushed the sisters and their driver and ordered them out of the car. The young attendant at El Gallo, where Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa stop to buy purses on the way to visit their husbands in Puerto Plata. He was the only person willing to take them, since. The Mirabal sisters' memory was commemorated for years in a very restrained manner, and the government treated the question of how and why they died guardedly. Nevertheless, on November 25, 1960, the three sisters and their driver made the journey to Puerto Plata where the men were being held. Minerva Quotes in In the Time of the Butterflies Patria's priest, who is "straight out of seminary and brimming with new ideas." The governor, who suggests that Minerva allow Trujillo to sleep with her in order to save her father, after Enrique Mirabal is taken to jail. It was such a common occurrence that families would hide their daughters out of fear they might catch his eye because refusal was not an option. Sometimes the most extraordinary acts of bravery come from the most humble of circumstances. Taking advantage of the sudden rain that began to fall during the outdoor celebration, Enrique Mirabal gathered his family and left.Trujillo's particular rules of etiquette did not allow for anyone to leave his activities without his authorization or before his own departure. When she was 14, she was sent by her parents to a Catholic boarding school, Colegio Inmaculada Concepcin in La Vega. To make it seem as if it were an accident, the bodies were returned to the car and pushed down the ravine. As described by Sinita to Minerva, "Trujillo became president in a sneaky way. We lived in fear, she wrote in her memoir, and there is nothing worse than living in fear.. The movement was created in support, and then in honor, of the Dominican emigrants that invaded from Cuba and were tortured and killed 14 June 1959. While his voracious appetites earned Trujillo the nickname The Goat, he declared himself Father of the New Fatherland and used his troops to enforce his will through terror and torture. First, he was in the army, and all the people who were above him kept disappearing until he was the one right below the head of the whole armed forces.". GradeSaver, 15 November 2009 Web. They are allowed to visit their husbands at La Victoria on Thursdays and to attend church on Sundays. [3] The secret movement was discovered weeks after its founding leading to Patrias house (where the group met) being burned to the ground and Mara Teresa and Minerva's arrests. All four were handcuffed, strangled, and clubbed to death. After Manolo's death, he becomes a builder in the capital and gets out of politics. For her part, Ded took pains to emphasize that although Alvarezs book spread the story of her family around the world, it was a novel. She and her revolutionary husband, Manolo Tavarez, have two children: Minou and Manolito. Under pressure of government authorities, she wrote a paper praising Trujillo just three days before her father's death. It was said that Trujillo claimed he had two problems to resolve: the Catholic Church (which was now openly condemning the violence from the regime) and the activities of the Mirabal sisters, as per Manchester Historian. The following day, in an act that was repeated many times, Enrique Mirabal was jailed and his wife and Minerva were kept in a local hotel under house arrest. Two years later the family was re-arrested after Enrique Mirabal refused to buy a book praising Trujillo and his government. There were four Mirabal sisters Patria, Ded, Minerva, and Mara Teresa who were born and raised in the quiet town of Ojo de Agua, Dominican Republic.
