La Malinche
An Indigenous woman fluent in Nahuatl and Maya who served as Cortés's interpreter during the conquest.
Life
Slave girl
La Malinche came from a Nahuatl-speaking family on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. As a child she was sold into slavery among the Maya, and so she knew both languages. In 1519 she and nineteen other women were given to the Spaniards by the chief of Tabasco; after baptism she was named Marina.
Interpreter in the Conquest
During the conquest she first worked in tandem with Aguilar, a Spaniard who knew Maya, to interpret, and later learned Spanish herself, becoming the indispensable go-between for Cortés and the Aztecs. The Indigenous people called her "Malintzin."
Mother of the mestizos
She bore Cortés a son, Martín, often seen as a symbol of the first generation of mestizos (people of mixed ancestry). She later married a Spanish officer and died c. 1529 (some say later).
Legacy
In Mexico, "Malinchismo" long meant a fawning preference for things foreign; in recent years many scholars and writers have reexamined her, seeing her as a victim struggling to survive in extreme circumstances.
Did you know? Her real name may have been "Malintzin"; "Malinche" is the Spaniards' rendering of that name.
Key dates
- 1519Given to the Spaniards
- 1519Serves as interpreter
- 1522Gives birth to her son Martín (approx.)
- 1524Accompanies Cortés's expedition to Honduras
- 1529Died (approx.)