La Malinche (; c. 1496 or c. 1501 – c. 1529), known also as
Malinalli ,
Malintzin or
Doña Marina , was a
Nahua woman from the Mexican
Gulf Coast, who played a role in the
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, acting as an interpreter, advisor, lover, and intermediary for
Hernán Cortés. She was one of twenty women slaves given to the Spaniards by the natives of
Tabasco in 1519. Later, she became a
mistress to Cortés and gave birth to his first son,
Martín, who is considered one of the first
Mestizos (people of mixed
European and
indigenous American ancestry).