Simon Bolivar

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar (Spanish pronunciation: [siˈmon boˈliβar]; July 24, 1783 – December 17, 1830) was aVenezuelan military and political leader. Together with José de San Martín, he played a key role in Latin America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire.

Following the triumphover the Spanish Monarchy, Bolívar participated in the foundation of the first union of independent nations in Latin America, which was named Gran Colombia, and of which he was president from 1819 to1830.

Simón Bolívar is regarded in Hispanic America as a hero, visionary, revolutionary, and liberator. During his lifetime, he led Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela toindependence, and helped lay the foundations for democratic ideology in much of Hispanic America.
The surname Bolívar derives from the Bolívar aristocrats who came from a small village in the BasqueCountry, Spain, called La Puebla de Bolívar.[1] His father came from the male line of the de Ardanza family.[2][3] His maternal grandmother, however, was descended from some families from Canary Island thatsettled in the country.[4]

The Bolívars settled in Venezuela in the sixteenth century. His first South American Bolivar ancestor was Simón de Bolívar (or Simon de Bolibar; the spelling was notstandardized until the nineteenth century), who lived and worked with the governor of the Santo Domingo from 1550 to 1570. When the governor of Santo Domingo was reassigned to Venezuela in 1589, Simón deBolívar came with him. As an early settler in Caracas Province, he became prominent in the local society, and he and his descendants were granted estates, encomiendas, and positions in the Caracascabildo.[citation needed]

The social position of the family is illustrated by the fact that when the Caracas Cathedral was built in 1594, the Bolívar family had one of the first dedicated side...