← Explore on the interactive map

La Malinche

Type Figure Region Mesoamerica Time c. 1500–1529 Also known as Malinche

A Nahuatl-speaking woman born around 1500 in present-day Veracruz, Mexico, taken as interpreter and advisor by Spanish conquistador Cortés.

Timeline

  1. c. 1500–1519Payanca · VeracruzBorn into a local Nahuatl noble family, sold into slavery in childhood, and was taken to Mayan-speaking regions where she learned multiple indigenous languages, laying the foundation for her later role as interpreter.
  2. 1519–1521Veracruz to Tenochtitlan · MexicoAfter being given to Cortés in 1519 she quickly mastered Spanish, interpreting between Nahuatl and Spanish, and took part in diplomatic negotiations and intelligence exchanges with the Aztecs and various indigenous tribes, having a decisive impact on the course of the conquest.
  3. 1522–1529Tlaxcala · TlaxcalaAfter the conquest she bore Cortés a son, Martín, later married a Spanish officer, lived in Tlaxcala and elsewhere, and continued to serve in communication between indigenous people and Spaniards in the early colonial period, dying around the late 1520s.

Sources