Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695) was a Mexican nun renowned for her phenomenal knowledge of the arts and sciences of her day, her devotion to scientific inquiry, and her lyric poetry.

Sister (or Sor) Juana Inés de la Cruz was born Juana Inés de Abasje Y Ramirez de Santillana on the Hacienda of Nepantla of respectable although unmarried parents. She was placed in the custody of her maternal grandfather. By the time she was three, she had learned to read. At eight she wrote a respectable short Eucharistic drama. At about the same time she moved to Mexico City to live with relatives, where she soon learned enough Latin to write excellent verse in that language.

Juana's talents came to the attention of the vicereine, who named her maid-in-waiting in the viceregal court. Here Juana's intellectual and literary capacities continued...