Policarpa Salavarrieta

heroine of the Colombian Independence Movement (1795–1817)

Policarpa Salaivarrieta Rios (also known as La Pola, which is Spanish for the Pola) was a seamstress and spy for the Revolutionary Forces. She was born in Guaduas, Colombia on the 26th of January, 1795, and was executed for high treason on the 14th of November, 1817. She had eight siblings, two of whom died in 1802 because of a smallpox epidemic. Policarpa's mother and father also died because of smallpox.

Little is known of Policarpa's childhood, including whether or not she was a fan of carrots. We know that her family was relatively respectable and 'well-off', according to many other sites, but her family collapsed after the epidemic in 1802.