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María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa (c. 1730 – 7 March 1799), better known by her religious name María Antonia de San José or by the nickname Mama Antula (Quechua for "Mother Antonia"), was a laywoman from colonial Argentina, known for spreading the Jesuits' spirituality following their expulsion from the Spanish colonies in 1767. Born in the present-day province of Santiago del Estero (which at the time was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru), there are no primary sources that confirm her exact date and place birth; some authors claim she was born in the town of Silípica, while she herself claimed to be have been born in the city of Santiago del Estero.

She was canonised by Pope Francis—himself Argentine and Jesuit—on 11 February 2024 at the St. Peter's Basilica, in a mass in which he described her as a "model of apostolic fervour and audacity for us". She thus became the first woman Catholic saint of Argentine origin and the third overall, following Héctor Valdivielso Sáez and José Gabriel Brochero.

Life
María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa was born around 1730 in what is now the Argentine province of Santiago del Estero, which at that time was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, in colonial Spanish America. Although several versions have been spread, there are no primary sources to confirm her exact date and city of birth, nor the name of her parents. Some authors claim that she was born in the town of Silípica, although there are no texts that confirm this version and María Antonia herself claimed to have been born in the city of Santiago del Estero. At age 15, she left the family home to become a laywoman of the Jesuit missionaries, who had an important presence in the region at that time. Coming from the respected Paz y Figueroa family, María Antonia took an unusual path for women of her class at the time, most of whom chose to be housewives or nuns. In colonial society, women of the middle and upper classes could only choose between marriage—which was the most common—, spinsterhood or dedicating their lives to God. Among the latter, the most common was to join a monastery, although the nuns of that time were all cloistered. A few women, such as María Antonia, chose to be laywomen, whose life consisted of prayer and domestic service in a Jesuit house for spiritual exercises in Santiago del Estero, where people went for retreats.