Patria Mirabal, Minerva Mirabal and Mara Teresa Mirabal were truly feminist before their time. The Real DR reports they were held hostage at Hotel Nacional, where police ferried Minerva back and forth to interrogations offsite until eventually she and her mother were released. 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. [5] She once said "We cannot allow our children to grow up in this corrupt and tyrannical regime. As the sisters headed home, Trujillos thugs stopped their car and killed the driver on the spot. Ded Mirabal, left, with her youngest sister, Mara Teresa, who was just 25 when she was killed by Rafael Trujillos henchmen. She is "such a thin woman with fly-about hair in her face.". 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. After Pedrito and Nelson are arrested, he takes over their land. There were four sisters in total: Patria, Minerva, Dede, and Maria Teresa. The husbands of Minerva, Mara Teresa, Patria were among the leaders of the 14th of June Movement, nicknamed 1J4. In the Time of the Butterflies essays are academic essays for citation. Minerva's friend and fellow revolutionary, who first explains to Minerva that Trujillo's regime is evil. However, he did so by exploiting farmers and lower classes to enrich himself and his loyalists. They had three sons. According to Biographics, the people were beholden to propping up the dictator's ego - those that did not suffered dire consequences. Maria Teresa's husband, whom she met through Minerva and Manolo, and who is also imprisoned as a revolutionary. Her maternal uncle planted the first seeds of opposition in her mind. The initial group numbered 13 and very quickly grew to include some of the most prominent members of the community. He also makes deliveries between revolutionary cells. [18][19] As a result, she was harassed and arrested on the direct orders of Trujillo. People all over the country were outraged that Trujillo would go so far as to kill women. When her sisters met with other activists, she would watch their children. Minerva was the first woman to graduate law school in the Dominican Republic. Whatever transpired, the family promptly left the party. [6] In 1949, the Mirabal family was invited to a party for the local elite where Minerva first caught the eye of Rafael Trujillo, so much so that the Mirabals were invited to a different party by Trujillo himself. In 1999, the United Nations designated Nov. 25, the anniversary of their murder, as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Unbeknownst to them, this was all under orders of Trujillo.With rumors rampant that an order for their death had been issued, the sisters traveled with an entourage that included children and elderly people, even though Minerva questioned whether the dictator would indeed dare to kill them. She becomes one of his many mistresses. Their mother was loving but strict, obsessed with cleanliness and fond of telling her children, God loves poverty but not rashness. She taught her daughters to sew. As a result, she was able to resume her law studies and in 1955, while still in law school, she married Manuel Tavarez Justo, a law school classmate and an activist in the movement against the dictatorship.Realizing that creating a resistance movement required recruitment and orga-nization of other like-minded citizens, Minerva and her husband organized El Movimiento 14 de Junio, a name derived from a group of Dominican exiles whose invasion to overthrow the government was set for June 14,1959. Since 1965 the house has been open to visitors to learn about the sisters' contributions to the resistance and preserves numerous personal items on display. Minerva had caught the eye of Trujillo, whose advances she frequently turned down. One of Minerva's and Maria Teresa's cellmates at the jail, whom Maria Teresa calls "our little birdseed bell." On November 25, 1960, when three of the sisters, Minerva, Patria and Mara Teresa, were returning from visiting the prison holding their husbands, who were leaders of the June 14 Revolutionary Movement, the women were ambushed by agents of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) outside of Puerto Plata. At first she planned to enter a convent but then chose to marry Pedrito Gonzales at the age of 16. According to the New York Times, due to the popularity of the novel and the film, "In the Time of the Butterflies," Ded said she made sure to demystify the mythologies created around her sisters. It was named after a failed rebellion against Rafael Trujillo, as perThe Real DR. On June 14, 1959, Dominican exiles living abroad were sent to stage a coup, but they were quickly discovered by the military, and the rebellion faltered. Minerva Mirabal was born on March 1, 1925 Salcedo, Dominican Republic. The restless Mirabal girl is jealous of her friends in the capital and is sure that they are having a much more exciting time than she is: The youngest sister, Mara Teresa Mirabal, attended the same university, but focused on engineering (via Casas Museo Hermanas Mirabal). Patria and Pedrito's son, who becomes involved in the revolution and is arrested along with his father. They were major players in the underground resistance to Trujillo's dictatorship, who had been in power for nearly 30 years before the movement. This event along with many others ultimately influenced Minerva's fight against the regime. March 5, 2020 6:37 AM EST. All four were handcuffed, strangled, and clubbed to death. They are allowed to visit their husbands at La Victoria on Thursdays and to attend church on Sundays. 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.. Their other sister, Ded Mirabal, did not participate in the activities, partly because her husband allegedly did not allow her to (via theNew York Times). Ded has written a memoir titled "Vivas en Su Jardn," or "Alive in Their Garden," which was published in 2009. 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. Maria Teresa's roommate at Dona Hita's. She is married to Leandro Guzman. Patria, Minerva and Maria became known as THE BUTTERFLIES or in Spanish LAS MARIPOSAS. Their husbands, having been involved with the failed revolt of June 1959, were arrested and imprisoned. [13][14] After Minerva's rejection of Trujillo, her parents prohibited Minerva from registering for law school due to concerns that she would get involved in politics and ultimately be killed. With the expansion of the movement, secrecy became more vulnerable, and soon the secret military police uncovered the movement's activities, and arrested many of its leaders, including Minerva and Maria Teresa and their husbands, Manuel and Leandro, in early January 1960. The Mirabals' maid, who continues to work for Dede in 1994. To make money, they start up a specialty business of making children's christening gowns. We have to fight against it, and I am willing to give up everything, even my life if necessary. [30] She lived in the house in Salcedo where the sisters were born until her death in 2014, aged 88.[31]. 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. Minerva encounters Trujillo in person as a young woman, when he tries to seduce her. Trujillo also orchestrated the mass murder of thousands of Haitians living in the country near the Haitian-Dominican border. On 21 November 2007, Salcedo Province was renamed Hermanas Mirabal Province. In death, the Mirabals were hailed as heroes of the revolution. 2nd ed . [19], Later in her life, Mara Teresa dated Leandro Guzmn. A fourth sister, Blgica Adela Mirabal Reyes, affectionately known as Ded, is the sole survivor of the four siblings and the caretaker of the family's legacy.Although the Mirabals' were very proud of their daughter Minerva's political commitment and integrity, her outspokenness made them apprehensive due to Trujillo's very repressive dictatorship, and they did not allow her to immediately proceed to law school. Members of the Mirabal family had been arrested on more than one occasion. Leandro responded, " there's no problem. The regime's cover story of an "accident backfired. Palomino. By 1960, Patria, Minerva, Mara Teresa, and their husbands had become thoroughly enmeshed in the growing anti-Trujillo resistance movement that began to sweep the Dominican Republic. One of Minerva's friends at Inmaculada Concepcion. Victor Alicinio Pen, the head of the northern division of the SIM. The police catch her while she is leaving the convent. As described by Sinita to Minerva, "Trujillo became president in a sneaky way. 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. To fight against a dictator's rule they felt was wrong. Ded, right, with her sister Minerva, who was a leader in the revolution against Trujillo. She was released but under constant watch by Trujillo's spies, notes Casas Museo Hermanas Mirabal. The family was keenly aware that invitations of that sort came with strings attached. 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.". The oldest of Carmen's children by Enrique Mirabal. The economy improved, leading to better education, an expanding middle class, and public works. Mara Teresa was influenced by her older sister Minerva's political views and was involved in the clandestine activities against Trujillo's regime. But she, unlike the rabbit, is not used to her cageshe knows she wants to get out and can't wait until she gets the chance. It was named after a failed rebellion against Rafael Trujillo, as per The Real DR. She tells Maria Teresa about her tragic life story, then tries to kiss her. 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. At first glance, they did not seem like the type to be involved in a revolution. as they were slowly electrocuted. Her full name is Patria Mercedes Mirabal. "[8], Blgica Adela Mirabal Reyes (1 March 1925 1 February 2014), commonly known as Ded, was the second daughter of the Mirabal family. The Dominican populace is divided and afraid under Trujillo, and every character has their own struggle between courage and cowardice. Maria Teresa and Minerva refuse their pardon because it would have meant admitting they had committed a crime. They married and had two children, Minerva Josefina in November 1955, and Manuel Enrique, in January 1960. While jailed, Enrique Mirabal developed a cardiac condition that is believed to have precipitated his early death in 1953. At his death, his empire had grown so large that he controlled nearly 80 percent of the countrys industrial production, the historian Frank Moya Pons wrote in The Dominican Republic: A National History (2010). According to a BBC interview with Minerva's oldest daughter, they were constantly being watched by Trujillo's agents. He asks Minerva to come away with him, and he sends her letters which Enrique Mirabal, her father, keeps from her. In 1994 the house became officially recognized as a museum. Manolo Minerva's husband, who is also imprisoned as a revolutionary. Mara Argentina Minerva Mirabal, the third Mirabal sister, and the one most wrapped up in the revolution. Patria's daughter, who comes of age just before her mother is killed. There are spies and informers everywhere, and people distrust even their own family members. [citation needed], The husbands of Minerva, Mara Teresa, Patria were among the leaders of the 14th of June Movement, nicknamed 1J4. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, the dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. As a result, she was able to resume her law studies and in 1955, while still in law school, she married Manuel Tavarez Justo, a law school classmate and an activist in the movement against the dictatorship. Even after getting married and starting a family, Minerva continued to be incarcerated. Once free, they continued their underground political work, albeit more discreetly. They were stopped, beaten and strangled to death. The father of Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa. The U.S. military withdrew in 1924, when a new democratic government could be established. Six years later, however, they changed their minds after realizing how upset this made Minerva, leading to her enrollment at the University of Santo Domingo, where she graduated summa cum laude. One day, when Minerva was 22, the Mirabals were forced to attend one of Trujillo's parties, much to the ire of their father, Don Enrique Mirabal. When she graduated top of her class in law school, Trujillo denied her license to practice. He continues to work at the museum in 1994. During their lives, the sisters were incarcerated several times and finally ambushed and brutally assassinated on November 25,1960, by the secret police. The Tragic Assassination Of The Mirabal Sisters Explained. The sisters were called "Las Mariposas" (the butterflies) as a covert way of referring to their work within and outside the organization. Minerva Mirabal was the first of the Mirabal sisters to become a dissident against Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo's secretary of state, whose real job is to round up young girls for Trujillo to take advantage of. The three of them, Patria Mercedes Mirabal Reyes, Mara Argentina Minerva Mirabal Reyes, and Antonia Mara Teresa Mirabal Reyes, were assassinated on the 25t November 1960. . He betrays them by reporting everything he hears at Security "for a bottle of rum and a couple of pesos.". As the sole Mirabal sister who survived Trujillos regime, Ded was left to wrestle with her guilt and find meaning in being alive. Blgica Adela Mirabal Reyes, who goes by the nickname Ded, is the only sister to never join the resistance movement and to survive past 1960. . She spent her life telling the stories of her sisters, turning their childhood home into a museum, the Casa Museo Hermanas Mirabal. [3] Their husbands, however, remained incarcerated. [3] They named it after a failed revolt against Trujillos government which was led by exiled Dominicans. So Trujillo sent orders to have the sisters assassinated. November 25th 1960: 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 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. Ded remained a supportive spectator in the fight against Trujillo (by some accounts because her husband did not allow her to participate). All of them were married and had children, and all of them were educated at a Catholic boarding school. Family Life. He tries to seduce Minerva at the Discovery Day party. Again, the sisters were released. [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. Three of them - Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa - gave their lives for their cause. The entire Mirabal family was in attendance and became aware of the situation. According to Casas Museo Hermanas Mirabal, from an early age, Minerva harbored resentment for Trujillo. 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. Trujillo created monopolies by buying out farms, manufacturing, and production, all controlled by himself and his closest allies. The invasion was enough to inspire the formation of a new group of determined individuals. The sisters peaceful rural upbringing was interrupted by Trujillo, who was the commander in chief of the Dominican army when he seized power in a coup in 1930. They were taken to separate locations in a ravine so that the victims could not see each other's execution. 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. Minerva displays fear and entrapment by her reaction to being abused by her husband. Amidst the Trujillo regime, resistance groups were forming within the Dominican Republic and among Dominicans who lived abroad. And the 1994 book by the Dominican-American novelist Julia Alvarez, In the Time of the Butterflies, cemented the legacy of the Mirabal sisters, including Ded. They wanted their fellow citizens of the Dominican Republic to taste freedom from a dictator bleeding the country of its resources and murdering its citizens to maintain control. [40], In 2021, Rosa Hernndez de Grulln, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic in France, inaugurated a plaque in Paris in honor of the famous Dominican resistance fighters murdered under the Trujillo dictatorship in 1960. She died at the age of 88, and professed her entire life that it was her destiny to survive so that she was able to "tell their story". Her husband, as well as the spouses of her sisters Minerva and Maria Teresa, was imprisoned for his political activism. "In the Time of the Butterflies Characters". Anyone can read what you share. She is educated and leads the revolutionary meetings in the cell along with Minerva. In 1952, a year before her father's death, Minerva finally began to pursue a law degree, but the government revoked her registration the following year. The Mirabal sisters were political activists and martyrs from the province of Salcedo in the Dominican Republic. This is where Minerva met her future husband, Manolo. [16] According to the historian Bernard Diederich, Minerva Mirabal was arrested twice; she was first jailed in January 1960, at the start of the wave of repression of 1J4 members where "hundreds of 1J4 members are rounded up and tortured"[17] She once said "It is a source of happiness to do whatever can be done for our country that suffers so many anguishes. In addition to her father being arrested, Minerva Mirabal and her mother were taken into police custody after the party. They were also known as the "Butterflies,' the code name used by one of them during their underground political activities against the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in the 1950s. 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. Maria Teresa Mirabal and Patria Mirabal, along with both their husbands, joined their sister, Minerva, in the movement. The eyes, the brows, the whole look had Mirabal written all over it." After the deaths of her sisters, she raised their six children in addition to her own three sons. [38], In 2019, the southeast corner of 168th street and Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan was designated "Mirabal Sisters Way" by the Council of the City of New York. On Nov. 25, 1960, the Mirabal sisters went to visit their husbands imprisoned in Puerto Plata, accompanied by their driver, Rufino de la Cruz. This "gringa" woman interviews Dede in 1994, and her questions provoke Dede to retreat into the past and remember the events that led up to her sisters' deaths. One of the nuns at Inmaculada Concepcion, who allows Sinita to go to school there for free. . 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