An exploration of women's involvement in the Latin American Wars of Independence

Simón Bolívar

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Alcoba	Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar	Dining room
Great Hall	Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar	Simón Bolívar

Gender:Male

Ethnic origen: White

Events:

Connections:

Texts:
1817 - Oficio
1819 - Discurso
1820 - Official note to the vicepresident of Cundinamarca sent from Angostura, around February 18.....
1820 - Discurso a las hijas del Socorro
1821 - Letter to Francisca Prieto, widow of Camilo Torres, awarding her an annual pension, dated .....
1821 - Carta a Gral Santander
1821 - Discurso ante el Congreso de Cúcuta
1822 - Carta a las señoras Garaicoa
1823 - Letter to O´Leary authorising Manuela Sáenz to look after his papers.
1824 - Letter from Bolívar to Manuela Sáenz in which he promotes her to teniente.
1826 - Carta a Manuela Sáenz
1828 - Carta a Santander
1828 - Carta al Señor Próspero Pereira Gamba

Biography:
He was born in Caracas in 1783, the son of María de la Concepción Palacios. He went to Cartagena to fight for independence from Spain in 1812, and was defeated, but took the campaign along the Magdalena River.

In around 1813 he praised the contribution of women from Trujillo Province, Venezuela in the Independence wars. (Earle, 133-134)

He was greatly influenced by Rousseau ("se nutrío tanto de Rousseau"). (Anderson, 190) Bolívar "drew on Montesquieu throughout his political life". (Lynch, ed., 31)

He was a mason. (Racine, 538)

Knaster claims that he believed women to be superior to men. He gave pensions to widows out of his own pocket. (Knaster, 479.)

Méndez examines his attitude towards Indians. He issued a decree, based on an earlier one made by San Martín, prohibiting the employment of Indians in faenas, mita, pongaje, or similar services. (Méndez, 17-19, 21)

He was met Alexander Humboldt in the Paris salons in 1804 and they became good friends. He admired Voltaire, "En Voltaire se encuentra todo: estilo, grandes y profundos pensamientos filosóficos, crítica fina y diversión". His was introduced to Rousseau's work by his childhood tutor Simón Rodríguez. He was fascinated by Napoleon. He had a copy of Bentham's work among his possessions. (Zapata, 49, 58, 61-67, 88-89)


Lynch describes him as "an inspired soldier [and] an informed political thinker". (Lynch, xv)

He died in 1830 on his way into exile.

References:

Dore, Elizabeth, and Molyneux, Maxine (editor). (2000) Hidden Histories of Gender and the State in Latin America
Humphreys, R. A. (editor). (1969) The ´Detached Recollections' of General D. F. O'Leary
Lynch, John (editor). (1994) Latin American Revolutions
Romero de Valle, Emilia (editor). (1948) Mujeres de América
Urbano, Enrique (editor). (1992) Tradición y modernidad en los Andes
Werner, Michael S. (editor). (1997) Encyclopedia of Mexico
Anderson Imbert, Enrique (1954) Historia de la literatura hispanoamericana, Tomo I, La Colonia cien años de República
Forero, Paulo E. (1972) Las heroinas olvidadas de la independencia
Knaster, Meri (1977) Women in Spanish America: An Annotated Bibliography from Pre-Conquest to Contemporary Times
Lynch, John (1986) The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826
Zapata, Ramón (1997) Los libros que leyó el Libertador Simón Bolívar