My history hero: Isabel Allende chooses Inés Suárez (c1507–80)

In profile

Born in Spain, Inés Suárez participated in the conquest of Chile with her lover, Pedro de Valdivia, and defended the new settlement they founded, Santiago, from an attack by the Indigenous Mapuche people. She subsequently became a symbol of the Chilean woman standing up to authority, and has been immortalised in historical novels including Allende’s Inés of My Soul (2006), inspiration for the Spanish-Chilean television drama of the same name.

When did you first hear about Suárez?

When I was studying Chilean history – though she is hardly mentioned in most Chilean history books, despite being the only Spanish woman to accompany 110 Conquistadors to what was then considered the end of the world. There is no monument erected in her memory.

What kind of woman was she?

She came from a humble family in Spain, and was originally a seamstress. Her hair was described as “flaming”, and she never had children. Interestingly, there’s no record of her suffering any accident or illness, so she must have been incredibly strong. She also had the gift of finding water, and helped save the Conquistador army when crossing the Atacama Desert. While the other Spaniards were fighting, looking for gold and raping Indigenous women, she was collecting chickens and cows, and buying land. She became the second-richest person in the country, the envy of the Conquistador captains. Unlike those men, who all died in their thirties or forties, she lived to her seventies.

• Read more | Two worlds collide: Spanish conquistadors and Aztecs

What made her a hero?

She defied everyone and did things her way, challenging the church and the world. She was unstoppable, and I love that. Women were not allowed to accompany Conquistadors unless joining a husband – and only with the permission of the king and the church. The Conquistador men didn’t feel that they needed their wives, because they were raping Indigenous women. In contrast, Inés went to Chile for love, not in search of gold or glory.

What was her finest hour?

Saving Santiago – today the national capital, but then just a bunch of shacks – from an attack by 10,000 Indigenous Mapuche people. Inés took charge of the defence, and the battle was brutal. Mapuche chieftains were taken prisoner – and she had them decapitated, then threw the heads over the city defences, persuading their people to back away. The fact that a woman could do such a thing is shocking to us now, but I can’t help but admire her strength. She was also capable of showing great compassion, though.

Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about her?

She enslaved Indigenous people, which I find horrifying – but you can’t judge her by the standards of today.

Can you see any parallels between her life and your own?

Not really. I’m a passionate woman, and my protagonists are strong women, but I never fought off 10,000 attackers!

What would you ask Inés Suárez if you could meet her now?

I’d like to have met her when she was an old woman, and asked her if she had had a happy life.

Isabel Allende is a Chilean American author whose books have sold 88 million copies worldwide. Her latest novel is My Name is Emilia del Valle (Bloomsbury, 2025)

This article was first published in the November 2025 issue of BBC History Magazine