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  Tupac and Bartolina’s cause would be taken up a few decades later by another heroic couple, Juana Azurduy and Manuel Ascencio Padilla, guerilla chiefs who fought in the 16-year Bolivian War of Independence. Juana, who’d been kicked out of the convent at the age of 12 for her rebellious ways, led her own women’s batallion, while her husband, trained as a lawyer, was given the title of Commandante. Manuel would die at the battle of Las Lagunas—according to some reports, while trying to save his wife’s life. Juana would see her country gain independence, and spend the rest of her life quietly living in Sucre.

Photography by Szymon Kochański