Simon Bolivar

Simón Bolívar
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Simón Bolívar

Simón Bolívar at age 36, 1819
2ndPresident of Venezuela
In office
August 6, 1813 – July 2, 1814
Preceded by Cristóbal Mendoza
In office
February 15, 1819 – December 17, 1819
Succeeded by José Antonio Páez
President of Gran Colombia
(Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama)
In office
December 17, 1819 – May 4, 1830
Vice President Francisco de Paula Santander
Succeeded by Domingo Caycedo
1st President of Bolivia
In officeAugust 12, 1825 – December 29, 1825
Succeeded by Antonio José de Sucre
President of Peru
In office
February 17, 1824 – January 28, 1827
Preceded by José Bernardo de Tagle, Marquis of Torre-Tagle
Succeeded by Andrés de Santa Cruz
Personal details
Born July 24, 1783
Caracas, Captaincy General of Venezuela, Spanish Empire
Died December 17, 1830 (aged 47)
Santa Marta, New Granada
Spouse(s)María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alaysa
Religion Roman Catholic
Signature
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco (July 24, 1783 – December 17, 1830), commonly known as Simón Bolívar (Spanish pronunciation: [siˈmom boˈliβar]), was a Venezuelan military and political leader. Together with José de San Martín, he played a key role in Hispanic-SpanishAmerica's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire, and is today considered one of the most influential politicians in American history.
Following the triumph over the Spanish Monarchy, Bolívar participated in the foundation of the first union of independent nations in Hispanic-America, a republic, which was named Gran Colombia, of which he was president from 1819 to 1830. Bolívarremains regarded in Hispanic-America as a hero, visionary, revolutionary, and liberator. During his lifetime, he led Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia to independence, and helped lay the foundations for democratic ideology in much of Latin America.
The surname Bolívar derives from the Bolívar aristocrats who came from a small village in the Basque Country, Spain, called La Puebla deBolívar.[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 the Canary Islands that settled in the country.[a]
The Bolívars settled in Venezuela in the sixteenth century. His first South American Bolívar ancestor was Simón de Bolívar (or Simon de Bolibar; the spelling was not standardized until the nineteenthcentury), 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 de Bolívar 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 Caracas cabildo.[4]
The social position ofthe 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 chapels. The majority of the wealth of Simón de Bolívar's descendants came from the estates. The most important of these estates was a sugar plantation with an encomienda that provided the labor needed to run the estate.[5] In later centuries, slave and freeblack labor would have replaced most of the encomienda labor. Another portion of Bolívar wealth came from the silver, gold, and more importantly, copper mines in Venezuela. In 1632, small gold deposits first were mined in Venezuela, leading to further discoveries of much more extensive copper deposits. From his mother's side, the Palacios family, Bolívar inherited the copper mines at Cocorote....