and lived openly as a man from age 24 until his death at age 95.
He was born in Xochipala,Guerrero to Casimiro Robles & Josefa Avila. Casimiro was a wealthy farmer who owned 42 hectares of land and a small mezcal factory.Amelio
had two older brothers Teodulo & Prisca.Amelio was three years old when Casimiro
died and a few years later Josefa married Jesus Martinez,one of the ranch hands who took care of the livestock.Josefa & Jesus had three more children,Luis,Concepcion,and Jesus Martinez Avila.They raised the children in the
Catholic religion.Amelio studied until the fourth grade at the school for young ladies
in Chilpancingo.
From a young age,Amelio showed an interest in activities that were considered masculine,learning to tame horses and handling weapons,and becoming an excellent
marksman and rider.Before joining the army,Amelio was treasurer in a Maderistas club in Xochipala.
Amelio joined the army in 1911 or 1912, perhaps when General Juan Andreau Almazan passed through Xochipala in 1911 as pressure mounted against Porfirio Diaz to resign as president.
Between August & November 1911, Amelio was sent to the Gulf of Mexico in a commission in order to obtain money from oil companies for the revolutionary cause.
Two years later,Amelio began to dress as a man and demanded to be treated as such.
(He was not alone as a person assigned female presenting as male in the Mexican army at the time.Maria de la Luz Barrera and Angel(a) Jimenez also adopted male
indentiities during the war.) From 1913-1918,Amelio fought as "el coronel Robles"
with the Zapatistas under the command of Jesus H.Salgado,Heliodoro Castillo,and Encarnacion Diaz.Amelio gained the respect of peers and superiors as a capable military leader,and was eventually given his own command.
In 1919,some time after Emiliano Zapata was killed,Amelio and 315 men under his command joined the the forces of Alvaro Obregon, and in 1920 fought with them in the Agua Prieta Revolt which brought an end to the government of Venustiano Carranza.In 1924,Amelio supported General Alvaro Obregon against the Delahuertist
rebellion under the command of General Adrian Castrejon,where the Delahuertist
general Marcial Cavazos died and Amelio was hurt.
Following the military phase of the Revolution,Amelio supported revolutinary general Alvaro Obregon when the latter was president of Mexico in 1920-1924; Amelio fought with Obregon forces to put down the 1923 rebellion of Venustiano Carranza.When
Amelio settled in Inguala for a time after the revolution,a group of men are said to have attacked him wanting to reveal his anatomy;he killed two in self-defense.
In 1939 he supported Almazan in the presidential election.
In 1948,Amelio received the medical certificate required to officially enter the
Confederation of Veterans of the Revolution.The medical revision confirmed that he
had received six bullet wounds.
In 1970,the Mexican Secretary of National Defense recognized Amelio as veteran (veterano) of the Revolution.Toward the end of his life,he received various decorations acknowledging distinguished military service: a decoration as a
veteran of the Mexican Revolution,and the Mexican Legion of Honor; in 1973 or 1974,
he was also decorated with the Revolutionary Merit award.( medalla al merito revolucionario).
According to historian Gabriela Cano Ortega,Amelio adopted a male identity not as
a survival strategy because of a strong desire to be a man.his male identity was accepted by family,society,distinguished military service;and the Mexican government,and Amelio lived as a manfrom the age of 24 until his death.According to to a former neighbor,if anyone called Amelio a woman or "Dona" he would threaten
them with a pistol.Amelio has therefore been seen as transgender.
Amelio met Angela Torres in Apipilulco in the 1930,and they later married.They adopted a daughter together,Regula Robles Torres. Horacio Legras says that that both later became estranged from Amelio.
On his deathbed Amelio supposedly made two requests,to received honors for his military service and to be dressed as a woman in order to commend his soul to God.
The latter request has never been confirmed,and his death death certificate notes that he lost the ability to speak more than a year before dying.
He was born in Xochipala,Guerrero to Casimiro Robles & Josefa Avila. Casimiro was a wealthy farmer who owned 42 hectares of land and a small mezcal factory.Amelio
had two older brothers Teodulo & Prisca.Amelio was three years old when Casimiro
died and a few years later Josefa married Jesus Martinez,one of the ranch hands who took care of the livestock.Josefa & Jesus had three more children,Luis,Concepcion,and Jesus Martinez Avila.They raised the children in the
Catholic religion.Amelio studied until the fourth grade at the school for young ladies
in Chilpancingo.
From a young age,Amelio showed an interest in activities that were considered masculine,learning to tame horses and handling weapons,and becoming an excellent
marksman and rider.Before joining the army,Amelio was treasurer in a Maderistas club in Xochipala.
Amelio joined the army in 1911 or 1912, perhaps when General Juan Andreau Almazan passed through Xochipala in 1911 as pressure mounted against Porfirio Diaz to resign as president.
Between August & November 1911, Amelio was sent to the Gulf of Mexico in a commission in order to obtain money from oil companies for the revolutionary cause.
Two years later,Amelio began to dress as a man and demanded to be treated as such.
(He was not alone as a person assigned female presenting as male in the Mexican army at the time.Maria de la Luz Barrera and Angel(a) Jimenez also adopted male
indentiities during the war.) From 1913-1918,Amelio fought as "el coronel Robles"
with the Zapatistas under the command of Jesus H.Salgado,Heliodoro Castillo,and Encarnacion Diaz.Amelio gained the respect of peers and superiors as a capable military leader,and was eventually given his own command.
In 1919,some time after Emiliano Zapata was killed,Amelio and 315 men under his command joined the the forces of Alvaro Obregon, and in 1920 fought with them in the Agua Prieta Revolt which brought an end to the government of Venustiano Carranza.In 1924,Amelio supported General Alvaro Obregon against the Delahuertist
rebellion under the command of General Adrian Castrejon,where the Delahuertist
general Marcial Cavazos died and Amelio was hurt.
Following the military phase of the Revolution,Amelio supported revolutinary general Alvaro Obregon when the latter was president of Mexico in 1920-1924; Amelio fought with Obregon forces to put down the 1923 rebellion of Venustiano Carranza.When
Amelio settled in Inguala for a time after the revolution,a group of men are said to have attacked him wanting to reveal his anatomy;he killed two in self-defense.
In 1939 he supported Almazan in the presidential election.
In 1948,Amelio received the medical certificate required to officially enter the
Confederation of Veterans of the Revolution.The medical revision confirmed that he
had received six bullet wounds.
In 1970,the Mexican Secretary of National Defense recognized Amelio as veteran (veterano) of the Revolution.Toward the end of his life,he received various decorations acknowledging distinguished military service: a decoration as a
veteran of the Mexican Revolution,and the Mexican Legion of Honor; in 1973 or 1974,
he was also decorated with the Revolutionary Merit award.( medalla al merito revolucionario).
According to historian Gabriela Cano Ortega,Amelio adopted a male identity not as
a survival strategy because of a strong desire to be a man.his male identity was accepted by family,society,distinguished military service;and the Mexican government,and Amelio lived as a manfrom the age of 24 until his death.According to to a former neighbor,if anyone called Amelio a woman or "Dona" he would threaten
them with a pistol.Amelio has therefore been seen as transgender.
Amelio met Angela Torres in Apipilulco in the 1930,and they later married.They adopted a daughter together,Regula Robles Torres. Horacio Legras says that that both later became estranged from Amelio.
On his deathbed Amelio supposedly made two requests,to received honors for his military service and to be dressed as a woman in order to commend his soul to God.
The latter request has never been confirmed,and his death death certificate notes that he lost the ability to speak more than a year before dying.
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