Personal Life
The Moreno family was poor, but could afford a house and some slaves. Ana María Valle y Ramos, Mariano's mother, was one of the few literate women in Buenos Aires. Mariano Moreno was the firstborn of fourteen children. Mariano moved to Chuquisaca with his brother Manuel Moreno and their friend Tomás Guido once the family raised the money. The long and difficult journey gave Mariano a rheumatism attack; he had to stay in bed for fifteen days on arrival. He had further attacks years later. Moreno met María Guadalupe Cuenca in this city, after seeing a miniature portrait of her at a silversmith's house. Both Moreno and María were expected by their families to follow religious studies, and Moreno's father did not authorize a change. Moreno studied laws all the same, and married María in secret to avoid family resistance. They had a single son, named Mariano like the father.
When Moreno left for Europe on a diplomatic mission in 1811, his wife and son stayed in Buenos Aires. María wrote many letters to Moreno, with descriptions of ongoing events in the city. Most of them were written when Moreno was already dead; she did not learn of his fate until the following August, when a letter arrived from Manuel Moreno. She requested a widow's pension from the First Triumvirate, which was in power by then; its value was thirty pesos.
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