1. Marina or Malintzin, more popularly known as La Malinche, was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, who became known for contributing to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, by acting as an interpreter, advisor, and intermediary for the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes.
La Malinche was one of 20 enslaved women given to the Spaniards in 1519 by the natives of Tabasco.
La Malinche's reputation has shifted over the centuries, as various peoples evaluate her role against their own societies' changing social and political perspectives.
La Malinche's birthdate is unknown, but it is estimated to be around 1500, and likely no later than 1505.
La Malinche was born in an that was either a part of or a tributary of a Mesoamerican state whose center was located on the bank of the Coatzacoalcos River to the east of the Aztec Empire.
La Malinche's daughter added that the of Olutla was related to Tetiquipaque, although the nature of this relationship is unclear.
La Malinche departs from other sources by writing that it was in the region of Jalisco.
La Malinche's family is reported to have been of noble background; Gomara writes that her father was related to a local ruler, while Diaz recounts that her parents were rulers.
Townsend notes that while Olutla at the time probably had a Popoluca-speaking majority, the ruling elite, which La Malinche supposedly belonged to, would have been Nahuatl-speaking.
La Malinche was probably between the ages of 8 and 12 when she was either sold or kidnapped into slavery.
La Malinche was taken to Xicalango, a major port city in the region.
La Malinche was given to Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, one of Cortes' captains.
La Malinche was a first cousin to the count of Cortes's hometown, Medellin.
Historian Gomara wrote that, when Cortes realized that La Malinche could talk with the emissaries, he promised her "more than liberty" if she would help him find and communicate with Moctezuma.
La Malinche was later given another Indigenous woman before he returned to Spain.
Diaz later said that the Nahua addressed Cortes as "La Malinche"; they took her as a point of reference for the group.
La Malinche appears to bridge communication between the two sides, as the Tlaxcalan presented the Spaniards with gifts of food and noblewomen to cement the alliance.
La Malinche was in the middle of this event, translating the conversation between Cortes and Moctezuma.
La Malinche was survived by her son Don Martin, who would be raised primarily by his father's family, and a daughter Dona Maria, who would be raised by Jaramillo and his second wife Dona Beatriz de Andrada.
La Malinche never referred to Marina by name, even in her work as Cortes's translator.
La Malinche knew how to speak in different registers and tones among certain Indigenous tribes and classes of people.
La Malinche's image has become a mythical archetype that artists have represented in various forms of art.
La Malinche's legacy is one of myth mixed with legend and the opposing opinions of the Mexican people about the legendary woman.
Feminist interventions into the figure of La Malinche began in the 1960s.
Some historians believe that La Malinche saved her people from the Aztecs, who held a hegemony throughout the territory and demanded tribute from its inhabitants.