Soledad Acosta

Using her writings, she was a feminist well ahead of her time, she lobbied for equal education for women, and wrote on various topics pertaining to female participation in society and family, encouraging others to become proactive in the workforce and in the restoration of society.

• Name — Soledad Acosta Kemble • Born — 5 May 1833 • Birthplace — Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Republic of New Granada • Died — 17 March 1913 • Place of death — Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Colombia • Resting Place — Central Cemetery of Bogotá • Language — Spanish • Movement — Costumbrismo • Occupation — Journalist, writer • Spouse — José María Samper Agudelo (1855–88) • Children — María Josefa Samper Acosta Carolina Samper Acosta Bertilda Samper Acosta Blanca Leonor Samper Acosta • Relatives — Tomás Joaquín de Acosta y Pérez de Guzmán (father) Miguel Samper Agudelo (brother-in-law) Agripina Samper Agudelo (sister-in-law)

Soledad was born on 5 May 1833, to Tomás Joaquín de Acosta y Pérez de Guzmán, and Caroline Kemble Rowe in Bogotá. Her father was a native of Guaduas, New Kingdom of Granada, the son of Spanish settlers, he was a scientist, diplomat and general; her mother, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, was the daughter of Gideon Kemble, an American Scotsman and Collector of the Port of Kingston, and his wife Tomasa (née Rowe). On 5 May 1855 she married José María Samper Agudelo, a renowned writer and journalist. Together they had four daughters: Bertilda, who become a nun, and took up poetry like her parents; Carolina (b. 1857) and María Josefa (b. 1860), both of whom died in 1872 during a smallpox outbreak in Bogotá; and Blanca Leonor (b. 1862). • Illustration — Daguerreotype of Soledad Acosta c 1880

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Her recorded language was Spanish. Her recorded confession was Roman Catholic. She was the child of Joaquín Acosta. She married José María Samper. One child is recorded: Bertilda Samper Acosta.