TERESA of JESUS MARIA. — Discalced Carmelite, in the world Maria de Pineda y Zurita, b. at Toledo on 1 Oct. 1592, d. at the Carmel of Cuerva on 9 Jan. 1641.
Having entered the monastery at the age of nine without any literary or scientific preparation, she left behind manuscript works that are theologically profound, true gems of Castilian literature: her autobiography, a mystical exposition of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and commentaries on various passages of Scripture. These were edited by Manuel Serrano y Sanz in the collection Biblioteca Renacimiento under the title: Las Obras de la sublime escritora del Amor Divino sor T. de Jesús Maria Carmelita Descalza del siglo XVII (Madrid 1921), with an excellent critical study of the life and writings of the authoress, who until then had been almost unknown.