Emiliano Zapata: how many wives and children did the Caudillo del Sur have

Little is said about the love life of Emiliano Zapata, one of the greatest symbols of the Mexican Revolution. Normally, the characteristics that always stand out from the so-called Caudillo del Sur are usually his role as a general of the Liberating Army, his work in the peasant struggle and his particular courage to face problems.

Despite the fact that the list of women who managed to arrow his heart is much smaller than that of his friend and battle partner Francisco Villa, the reality is that more than 5 had the opportunity to be next to one of the most important in the history of Mexico.

According to an article in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, the leader had a total of 10 wives and with each one he had successors, which means that he left a great legacy. The number of children varies according to some historians, however, it is known that he left approximately 15 sons and daughters.

It should be noted that, unfortunately, a large percentage of their heirs lost their lives due to poor health, hygiene and food conditions that existed in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century, mainly in the state of Morelos, where the leader of the Southern Liberator Army was born and lived.

On the other hand, although various official sources place Josefa Espejo as the main wife of the revolutionary, before completing his wedding with her and after the end of his love, Emiliano was with different women who accompanied him in his revolutionary dreams.

The first lady he fell in love with in his youth was Inés Alfaro Aguilar, a young woman he met in Villa de Ayala. She was a girl from a wealthy family, because her father, Remigio Alfaro, was one of the most influential men in the colony.

Before deciding to start a family with her, the man had had an affair with Luisa Merino, considered by some specialists to be the number 11 woman in the soldier's life, but she is not so recognized because she allegedly never came to anything serious with her.

Zapata immediately wanted to marry Alfaro Aguilar and after getting married, 5 children were born: the oldest was Guadalupe, then Nicolás arrived, then Juan and Ponciano and the youngest was named María Elena Zapata Aguilar. Although the fruits of this relationship were vast, Inés declared on November 3, 1943 through a document that the only one left alive was Nicolás.

Felipe Ávila, historian at the Colegio de México, details that Milano - as his family used to say about affection - was denounced by Inés's family because they discovered his infidelity with Josefa Espejo. He was later arrested and enlisted in the federal army, although he soon managed to escape.

When he returned, he decided to start a new family with Josefa, also called “La Generala”, daughter of landowners Fidencio Espejo and Guadalupe Sánchez Merino, who strongly opposed their relationship.

Some time later, these obstacles were no impediment, since in the end they married and had two children. The first was a male named Felipe Zapata Espejo, who five years later would die from a snake bite. The second was named Josefa, who also died very young from a scorpion sting.

After that affair, the defender of the land conquered the heart of Margarita Saenz Ugalde. They brought into the world three little ones, Luis Eugenio, Margarita and Gabriel Zapata Sáenz, the latter died shortly after they were born and the only one who reached adulthood was Luis.

The fourth woman was Petra Portillo Torres, a girl with whom he secretly engaged until Zapata ended his relationship with Margarita and proposed to Petra. From this union, Ana María Zapata Portillo was born, one of the few young women who also managed to reach adulthood before her death.

Since Emiliano was not giving up, he decided to try his luck again with María de Jesús Pérez Caballero. They gave life to Mateo Emiliano Zapata Pérez who was born on September 21, 1917 and died on January 10, 2007 in Cuautla.

The sixth marriage was to Georgina Piñeiro, a woman with whom she had Diego Zapata Piñeiro, born in 1916 and died in 2008 in Mexico City. It should be noted that the latter gave the revolutionary four grandchildren.

With Gregoria Zúñiga Benitez she tried for the seventh time to trust love, however, unfortunately the woman died of meningitis and they could not leave children.

He later fell in love with Luz Zúñiga with whom he had no children, however, historian Carlos Barreto Mark said that there is a version that he had a child who apparently died at birth.

He finally met Agapita Sanchez with whom he procreated Carlota Zapata Sánchez. His last wife was Matilde Vazquez, a lady to whom his son named Gabriel Zapata Vazquez was born. Currently, most of his children are in the Municipal Pantheon of Cuautla.

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