Amplify InBetween: Four Revolutionary WarriHERs You Should Know

Announcement: Hello! Welcome to the first Amplify InBetween post! What is an InBetween post? It’s a post where we share multiple posts or people at once, in between our main stories.

Since the Revolutionary WarriHERs series is from July to October, we realized we couldn’t share all the Revolutionary WarriHER women that we want; so, we decided to write an InBetween post and share a list of four Revolutionary WarriHERs you should know.

We should name this post “Revolutionary WarriHERs we would love to see on film or in a comic strip” because these four WarriHERs are phenomenal. They all changed the course of their respective country’s history. These women fought for independence, and they influenced their country’s leaders and women.

Here are the four Revolutionary WarriHERs that you should know:

Juana Ramírez, a Venezuelan Freedom Fighter

Juana Ramírez was born into slavery in Guarico, Venezuela, in 1790. In 1810, she freed herself from enslavement, then proceeded to free Venezuela from the Spanish Empire. With her unit of about one hundred women, she advanced to the front lines in the northern city of Maturin. Juana Ramírez, or Juana “La Avanzadora,” became the commander of an all-female artillery unit. She was known as a fearless leader and advancer, hence the name “La Avanzadora.” In 1813, when Spanish soldiers tried to recolonize Venezuela, the country called upon Ramírez and her artillery to fight at the front line.

Juana Ramírez is an inspiration to Venezuelans, especially Afro-Venezuelans and women who continue to fight against racism and seek women’s rights. There are monuments dedicated to her. In 2015, Ramirez became the first Black woman to be honored and laid to rest posthumously at Venezuela’s National Mausoleum of Heroes.

I think it would be amazing to see the life of La Avanzadora played out in a graphic novel, showcasing her skills as a commander of an all-women artillery and a freedom fighter for Afro-Venezuelans.

Pearl Witherington Cornioley, British-French Resistance Spy

Being a spy isn’t easy—from espionage to jumping out of planes, to almost getting killed when your cover is blown, to hiding in bushes when the enemy attacks—and constantly fighting to stay alive is something Pearl Cornioley knew all too well. Cecile Pearl Witherington Cornioley was an agent of the United Kingdom Special Operations Executive during World War II. Born in 1914 France to British ex-pats, Cornioley spent her days negotiating with creditors as her father drank her family’s money away. In 1940, she started working for the British Embassy in Paris. That same year, Cornioley escaped France to London and worked with the Women’s Auxiliary Force. At age twenty-nine, she volunteered for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). She soon rose in the ranks to the commander of three thousand resistance fighters. During her time with the SOE, Cornioley was known for disguises, code names (like Pauline), and parachuting into occupied France as a courier, delivering messages and fake identity cards. She lived an exciting life, from living on the streets to forming the new SOE division Wrestler, and becoming its network leader. At one point, German soldiers also attacked her headquarters and destroyed her network’s weapons. That didn’t deter this trained spy from fighting back. Cornioley, like many of the SOE women leaders, was persistent in the pursuit of justice. Four months after the Germans attacked her headquarters, she organized more than twenty airdrops of weapons to sabotage the German army operations. In total, Corionley’s unit captured eighteen thousand German troops during their missions.

Cornioley spent her career at the forefront of the battlefield, though she was ineligible for a military honor because she was a woman. Cornioley died in 2008 at the age of ninety-three, having spent her career training and organizing fighters. She leaves behind a legacy of resiliency and is an inspiration for many women in service. She’s a Revolutionary WarriHER because she paved the way and fought for freedom, and because she wanted to prove that girls could fight and jump out of parachutes and do any dangerous mission that men could.

Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière, Haitian Liberator and Influencer

Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière played a pivotal role in the liberation of Haiti in 1804. Lamartinière was a soldier during the Haitian Revolution alongside her husband, Louis Lamartinière. She is known for leading the charge at Crête-à-Pierrot against twelve thousand French army soldiers with only a shotgun and a dagger attached to a steel belt.

After the death of her husband on November 2, 1802, she retired from the battlefield, but not for long. During Haiti’s fight for independence in 1804, Lamartinière became the bodyguard for Jean-Jacques Dessalines, leader of the Haitian Revolution and first ruler of an independent Haiti. Many warriHER Haitian women, including Lamartinière, influenced Dessalines in his rule of Haiti. Lamartinière’s presence on the battlefield impacted those around her. She encouraged the soldiers to fight even when the French outnumbered them. The revolution in Haiti did not just liberate Haitians; it was an anti-slavery and anti-colonial insurrection that influenced many other nations to take up arms and free themselves. Despite her prowess, not much is known about Lamartinière after Dessalines’s death in 1806. Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière played a massive role in her country’s revolution, influencing leaders and becoming a role model for future WarriHERs fighting for freedom.

Martha Christina Tiahahu, Young Military Leader and Indonesian Heroine

At a mere seventeen years old, Martha Christina Tiahahu joined the resistance against the Dutch colonial government. She fought in many battles spearheaded by Kapitan Pattimura, an Ambonese soldier and National Indonesian Hero from the Maluku islands. Martha had always been around the battlefield. She was born on January 4, 1800, in Santiago de Abúbu village on Nusalaut Island (near Maluku) to Kapitan Paulus Tiahahu of the Soa Uluputi clan. She was raised by her military officer father and grew up surrounded by commanders and military strategists.

Whether it be commanding, influencing leadership, implementing laws, or launching women-led organizations focused on women’s rights, Indonesian women have always been at the forefront of Indonesian politics and liberation. Therefore, it’s no surprise that Tiahahu planned and commanded in many battles against the Dutch during Indonesia’s fight against colonial rule. In 1817, Tiahahu, her father, and Pattimura eliminated the Dutch troops in Saparua, Central Maluku. She was known to throw stones at the enemy when her comrades were out of ammunition. The people of Maluku call her Wanita Kabaressi, or“Brave Lady.” Tiahahu and her army were known to win every battle against the Dutch. Unfortunately, during one of the battles in the village of Ouw-Ullath, she, her father, and many other fighters were captured. Due to her young age, Tiahahu was released from captivity, but her father and the other soldiers were executed. This didn’t deter her from rejoining the fight. She was eventually recaptured, placed on a slave ship, and exiled to Java by the Dutch. Tiahahu fought until the end. She went on a hunger strike and starved to death, just shy of her eighteenth birthday.

Today, there is a statue of this courageous teenage revolutionary WarriHER at Karang Panjang in Maluku; the figure represents Martha Christina Tiahahu and the women in Indonesia who fought and continue to fight for freedom. Several streets, ships, organizations, and even a woman’s magazine were named after this courageous warrior.

Bonus: Madam Sacho

The life of Madam Sacho is one of resilience and intrigue. Known as the “Iroquois Woman Who Survived the American Revolution,” she emerged from the smoke of her burned village as the only survivor.

During the American Revolution, the American side was not only fighting for freedom from Great Britain, but also fighting against the Native tribes: the Iroquois, Shawnee, Cherokee, Creek, Potawatomi, and Delaware. Because of the conflict, the Americans and the British forced the tribes to either choose a side or stay neutral. The Iroquois were on the side of Great Britain. Because of this, in 1779, George Washington enacted the Sullivan Expedition, a campaign to burn and destroy over forty Iroquois villages. One of the villages was that of Madam Sacho.

Native women played an essential role in the war and the revolution. Although little is known about Madam Sacho and her ordeal, we can infer that she fought and tried to protect her village and people. Many accounts say that most Native settlements fled before soldiers came, while some others tell of matriarchs and tribal members staying to defend their villages during the American revolution. That is why it is astonishing to hear that Madam Sacho stayed and survived. It would be great to have more documentation about Native women who fought for liberation, and about their influence during the revolution, considering how little we know about Madam Sacho.

What Makes these women #RevolutionaryWarriHERs?

Aside from the fact that they risked their lives for liberation? They all dared to stand up for what they believed in. Gender, age, and background did not stop them. They fought, led, and did their best to change the course of their countries’ future and women’s futures around the world.

Reads that inspiHER:

Have you ever heard of the Spy Princess who risked her life during World War II? Check out The Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan. The book tells the story of Princess Noor Inayat Khan and how she risked her life to help the British spy on the Nazis.
Want to know about the Revolutionary WarriHERs who led enslaved people to revolt? Check out the graphic novel Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts.
Recommendations from Amplify Reader Deborah O.: If you’re interested in a book about revolutionary fighters written by Kurdish anarchist feminists, then check out A Small Key Can Open a Large Door: The Rojava Revolution.
Check out Queer icon and anti-Nazi fighter Claude Cahun’s untold story.
- Note: Cahun believed gender was transmutable and assumed different gender identities. Although “experts” refer to Cahun using feminine pronouns, they may have identified as nonbinary today. I added their story because they were at the forefront of challenging the gendered status quo, and, of course, they fought Nazis.