La Malinche is known by various names including Malintzin and doña Marina. She was born around 1500 in the Yucatán peninsula. She had a difficult childhood and was sold into slavery to a group of Mayans after her father’s death. She was later given to yet another tribe as tribute. Through her circumstances she was forced to learn several indigenous […]
Read more 27 Oct 2019
Biography: La Malinche
16 Jul 2019
Biography: Anne Frank
Anne Frank was born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany. When she was only four years old, Adolf Hitler came to power and her family fled to Amsterdam for safety. Unfortunately, in May 1940, the German armed forces also occupied the Netherlands. The Jewish faced many restrictions and also had to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothes. […]
Read more 13 Nov 2018
Biography: El Cid
El Cid was the nickname given to Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, a military leader born in 1043 near Burgos, Spain. El Cid is derived from the Arabic word sayyid meaning sir or lord. Rodrigo was born into a noble family and was raised in the court of King Ferdinand the Great (1015-1065). As a young man he served the king’s son, Sancho II and ascended to the level of commander when Sancho became king in 1065. He quickly became famous for his military prowess in particular in several campaigns against the Muslim Kingdoms in southern Spain in the area known as Al-Andaluz, modern day Andalusia.
Read more 26 Aug 2018
Biography: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a German poet and theater director. He wrote many poems, dramas and prose literature. He is known worldwide today. As a child, Goethe lived with his family in Frankfurt and received a very good education. He also studied many languages. Later on he studied law, though he only wanted to write and as such […]
Read more 17 Jul 2018
Biography: Severo Ochoa
Severo Ochoa de Albornoz was a Spanish-American doctor and biochemist. He is best known for winning the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1959. He was born in Spain in 1905.
Read more 08 Apr 2018
Biography: Dolores Huerta
Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta was born on April 10, 1930 in New Mexico. Her grandparents had come to the United States from Mexico. Her father was a coal miner and agricultural worker. Her parents divorced when she was only three years old and she and her two brothers were raised by her mother in Stockton, California
Read more 07 Mar 2018
Biography: Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish writer who is considered to be the greatest writer in the Spanish language of all time as well as the writer of one of the world’s first novels. Cervantes is best known for his masterpiece Don Quixote which has been translated into more languages than any other book on earth except for the Bible.
Read more 20 Jan 2018
Hildegard von Bingen Biography
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was a Benedictine nun and a German mystic of the Middle Ages. She dealt with such diverse disciplines as religion, medicine, biology and music.
Read more 05 Dec 2017
Biography: Selena
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was born on April 16, 1971 in Texas. She is known as the queen of Tejano music, which is a combination of music from Texas and Mexico and is very popular among the Mexican-American populations of southern and central Texas.
Read more 05 Oct 2017
Biography: Cesar Chavez
Cesar Chavez was a union leader and civil rights activist. He was ‘Chicano’ a term that refers to the descendants of Mexicans living in the United States.
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