[1] A believer in women's rights, she was also committed to the abolition of slavery and the independence of Puerto Rico.

She developed a lifelong love for literature, especially for the works of Fray Luis de León which were to serve her as a source of inspiration.

She was very assertive in her early years, at the age of seventeen she demanded to be allowed to wear her hair short, which went against the conventional norm of the time, a personal trademark that she kept through her life.

Rodríguez de Tió became a writer and book importer who often wrote articles in the local press and was as much of an activist against the Spanish regime as was allowed by the government.

After marrying Tió, she published her first book of poetry, "Mis Cantos", which sold the then amazing amount of 2,500 copies.

[3] In 1867 and then again in 1889, Rodríguez de Tió and her husband were banished from Puerto Rico by the Spanish appointed Governors.

On their first exile they went to Venezuela and on their second banishment they first moved to New York where she helped José Martí and other Cuban revolutionaries, and later to Cuba, where the couple resided until their respective deaths.

In 1868, inspired by Ramón Emeterio Betances's quest for Puerto Rico's independence and by the attempted revolution called the Grito de Lares, she wrote the patriotic lyrics to the existing tune of La Borinqueña.

In 1901, Rodríguez de Tió founded and was elected member to the Cuban Academy of Arts and Letters.

Lola Rodríguez de Tió died on November 10, 1924, and is buried at the Colón Cemetery in Havana, Cuba.

According to the plaques the 12 women, who by virtue of their merits and legacies, stand out in the history of Puerto Rico.

Bellísima Borinquén, a Cuba hay que seguir; tú tienes bravos hijos que quieren combatir.

Nosotros queremos ser libres ya, y nuestro machete afilado está.