Bolivar Simon - biography, facts from life, photographs, background information. Simon Bolivar: biography, personal life, achievements, photos
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Bolivar, Simon (Simon Bolivar) (07/24/1783-12/17/1830) - one of the leaders of the struggle for the independence of the Spanish colonies in Latin America. The most famous man in the history of Latin America, he received the proud title of "Liberator" (EL Libertador) for the victorious revolutionary wars he led against Spanish rule in New Granada (renamed Colombia or "Grand Colombia" in 1819, which included what is now Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador), Peru and "Upper Peru" (present-day Bolivia), Bolivar - President of Colombia (1821-1830) and Peru (1823-1829)
Simon Bolivar was born in Caracas into the family of a Venezuelan Creole aristocrat. At the age of 16, the young man was sent to Europe, where he lived and studied for several years in Spain, France, and Italy. There he became acquainted with the works of Locke, Hobbes, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and other prominent figures of the Enlightenment. The idea of independence for Spanish America captured Bolivar's imagination, and while in Rome, he vowed to liberate his country on the top of Monte Sacro. In 1807, he returned to Venezuela, stopping along the way in the United States, where he became acquainted with the life of a country that had recently won independence from the English metropolis. The liberation movement began a year after Bolivar's return to his homeland, when Napoleon's invasion of Spain weakened the position of local colonial authorities. Bolivar actively participated in the struggle, which ended with the resignation and expulsion of the Spanish governor from the country. Power in Venezuela passed into the hands of the revolutionary junta, which sent Bolivar to England to negotiate diplomatic recognition of the new government, supplies of weapons and equipment. Negotiations with the official authorities did not bring the desired results, but the envoy's important success was that he met with the prominent revolutionary Francisco de Miranda (who, after an unsuccessful attempt to liberate Venezuela from the colonialists in 1806, lived in European exile), and convinced Miranda to lead the liberation movement. movement in Venezuela. The country was in a state of ferment. In March 1811, the National Congress was held in Caracas, which adopted a draft constitution. On July 5, 1811, Venezuela was declared an independent republic. Bolivar stood at the head of the units defending Puerto Cabello, the country's most important port, but as a result of the betrayal of one of the officers, the Spaniards broke into the fortress. The commander-in-chief of the revolutionaries, Miranda was forced to sign a surrender. He was handed over to the Spanish and spent the rest of his life in Spanish prisons.
Bolivar fled to Cartagena (present-day Colombia), where he published one of his famous documents, the Cartagena Manifesto. In it, he called on his fellow citizens to rally around the revolutionary forces and overthrow the Spanish colonial regime in Venezuela. Having led the revolutionary army, he defeated the Spaniards and on August 6, 1813, entered Caracas, where he was given the title of “Liberator” and transferred all powers over the “Second Venezuelan Republic.” However, in 1814, the Spaniards were able to win over the "llane ros" (local cattle breeders), who formed the backbone of their cavalry, and defeated Bolivar. Bolivar managed to escape and moved to Jamaica. In exile, he wrote a second historical document, “Letter from Jamaica,” in which he unfolded a grandiose plan to unite all the countries of Spanish America, creating a single state following the example of the constitutional monarchy in Great Britain. In it, legislative power should be exercised by a parliament of two chambers - the upper, formed on the hereditary principle (like the House of Lords) and the lower, elected by citizens. The state will be ruled by a president elected to this post for life.
The national hero of Venezuela, General Simón Bolívar, was born on July 24, 1783 in Caracas (Venezuela) into a very wealthy Creole family. His full name, indicating the noble family of his parents, is Simon José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios. He had three older brothers and a sister, but she died shortly after birth.
After the defeat of the republic by Spanish troops in 1812, Bolivar settled in New Granada (now Colombia), and at the beginning of 1813, the rebel army he led entered the territory of Venezuela. In August 1813, his troops occupied the capital of Caracas and soon the Second Venezuelan Republic was created, led by Bolivar. The National Congress of Venezuela awarded Simon Bolivar the honorary title "Liberator".
However, the following year the rebels were defeated by the troops of General Boves in the battle of La Puerte. The leader of the Republicans again had to flee abroad with several of his like-minded people. He was forced to seek refuge in Jamaica, then in Haiti.
Thanks to his organizational talent, Bolivar quickly assembled a new army and even assembled a fleet under the command of the wealthy Dutch merchant Brion, who supplied him with money and his ships. On March 2, 1816, Brion defeated the Spanish fleet, and the next day Bolivar landed on the island of Margarita. The National Assembly proclaimed Venezuela a republic "one and indivisible" and elected Bolívar as its president on March 7, 1816.
The abolition of slavery (1816) and the decree on allocating land to the soldiers of the liberation army (1817) helped Bolivar gain the support of the broad masses.
In May 1817, Bolivar, with the help of Brion, captured Angostura (now Ciudad Bolivar) and raised all of Guiana against Spain. Following successful actions in Venezuela, his troops liberated New Granada in 1819. In December 1819, he was elected president of the Republic of Colombia proclaimed by the National Congress in Angostura, which included Venezuela and New Granada. In 1822, the Colombians expelled Spanish forces from the province of Quito (now Ecuador), which had annexed Colombia. In July 1822, Bolivar met in Guayaquil with Jose de San Martin, whose army had already liberated part of Peru, but was unable to agree with him on joint action. After the resignation of San Martin (September 20, 1822), he sent Colombian units to Peru in 1823, and in 1824 (August 6 at Junin and December 9 on the Ayacucho plain) the last Spanish forces on the American continent were defeated. Bolivar, who became the dictator of Peru in February 1824, also headed the Republic of Bolivia, created in 1825 on the territory of Upper Peru, named after him.
After the end of the war, Bolivar began organizing the internal government of the state. On May 25, 1826, he presented his Bolivian Code to the Congress in Lima. According to Bolivar's plan, the Southern United States was formed, which was to include Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, La Plata and Chile. On June 22, 1826, Bolivar convened the Continental Congress in Panama from representatives of all these states.
After the unification project became widely known, its author began to be accused of wanting to create an empire under his own rule, where he would play the role of Napoleon.
Shortly after the Panama Congress, Gran Colombia disintegrated. In 1827-1828, Bolivar's power was overthrown in Peru and Bolivia, and in the next two years Venezuela and Ecuador separated from Colombia. A strong blow for Bolivar was the murder of his faithful comrade-in-arms, General Antonio de Sucre, in whom he saw his worthy successor. In January 1830, Simon Bolivar resigned, a few months later he briefly resumed the presidency, and on April 27, 1830, he finally retired from political activity. Bolivar headed to Cartagena with the intention of emigrating to Jamaica or Europe.
Bolivar died near Santa Marti (Colombia) on December 17, 1830, presumably from tuberculosis.
The personality cult of Simon Bolivar began in Venezuela in 1842. His comrade-in-arms, Venezuelan President General Jose Antonio Paez, who once betrayed the Liberator, realized the importance of glorifying the past. Bolivar's remains were transported from Colombia, where he died, to his native Caracas and buried in the cathedral, which in 1876 was transformed into the National Pantheon of Venezuela. In 2010, the remains of the Latin American liberator were ordered by head of state Hugo Chavez to check whether he had died of illness or was the victim of a conspiracy. It was announced that more than 50 criminologists and forensic experts will study the remains of the hero-liberator to establish the true causes of his death. As a result, experts were able to establish Bolivar’s identity by conducting several complex examinations with DNA samples from his deceased relatives, but
The name of Simon Bolivar is given to the state of Bolivia, of which he was the first president; state of Bolivar, city of Ciudad Bolivar and Peak Bolivar (5007 m) in Venezuela; also the Venezuelan currency is the bolivar; two cities and a department in Colombia, two cities in Peru, a strait between the islands of Fernandina and Isabela (Galapagos archipelago).
On October 15, 2010, a ceremony for Simon Bolivar took place in Moscow.
In 1989, the legendary Colombian writer Gabriel Marquez’s novel “The General in His Labyrinth” was published, in which the author tried to recreate the image of Simon Bolivar and answer a number of questions that determined the life and fate of the “Liberator”.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Bolivar dreamed of creating one federal state modeled on the United States on the territory of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.
Simon Bolivar was born in Venezuela in the city of Caracas, into the family of a Spanish aristocrat. At the age of nine he lost his parents.
In his youth, Bolivar visited several European countries and became imbued with the revolutionary ideas that were then hovering over the Old World. In 1805, on the top of the Avignon hill in Rome, Bolivar takes a solemn oath to free his homeland from the Spaniards.
In 1808, Spain was occupied by Napoleonic France and the colonies in America received a unique chance to gain freedom. In 1810, the Spanish governor was removed from Venezuela, and in 1811 the country was formally declared independent from Spain. That same year, Bolivar joined the rebel army as an officer.
In 1812, Spanish troops reoccupied Venezuela, restoring colonial order. Bolivar fled the country.
In subsequent years, at the head of rebel detachments, Bolivar either won victories or suffered crushing defeats. But in 1819, he led his small army through the supposedly impenetrable Andes and launched a surprise attack on Spanish forces in Colombia. On August 7, 1819, Bolívar won the Battle of Boyaca, which became a turning point in the Colonial War of Independence. Venezuela was completely liberated in 1821, and Ecuador a year later.
In the summer of 1822, in the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, Bolivar met with the Argentine rebel general José de San Martin to agree on joint action to liberate Peru. But Bolivar’s ambition played a bad role in the negotiations and San Martin, in order not to conflict with the like-minded revolutionary Bolivar on the issue of power, turned his troops back.
By 1824, Bolivar's army had completely liberated Peru, and by 1825, Upper Peru (now Bolivia).
Bolivar dreamed of creating one federal state modeled on the United States on the territory of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. The first three countries did unite for a time to form Gran Colombia. Bolivar became its president. However, soon trends towards secession from Gran Colombia began to appear in the policies of the participating countries. The situation was extremely tense; in 1828 there was even an attempt to kill Bolivar. In 1830, Gran Colombia disintegrated. Bolivar, realizing his burden of responsibility and the fact that he was an obstacle to achieving peace in the region, resigned. Bolivar died soon after.
South America. His name is shrouded in romanticism, heroism and self-sacrifice for the good of his state. Simon played a huge role in the life of almost the entire continent; he led an active struggle for the independence of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. The hero of South America was born in Venezuela in 1783 in the city of Caracas. His father was from Spain and was one of the richest people in Venezuela. Unfortunately, when Simon was nine years old, he became an orphan. The years passed, the boy grew and matured. Among Bolivar's hobbies was; he read with interest the works of Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu.
As a young man, he visited several European countries. In Rome, being on the top of the Aventine Hill, he swore an oath to liberate his homeland from Spanish rule. Meanwhile, the period of the Napoleonic Wars begins in Europe. Bonaparte captures Spain and puts his brother at the head of state. The royal family no longer has much political weight. There is no one to control affairs in the Spanish colonies. Local separatists perceive this news as a signal to actively fight for the independence of their states. In 1810, a revolution began in Venezuela. The Spanish governor lost power, the people of Venezuela declared their independence. Bolívar was at that time an officer in the revolutionary army. Soon the Spaniards will be able to regain control over the South American state. The leader of the revolution, Francisco Miranda, will be in prison, and Bolivar will be forced to flee the country. For some time he lived in Colombia, and in 1813 he returned to his homeland along with the troops. Soon, together with loyal troops, he captured Caracas.
The second Venezuelan Republic was formed, led by Bolivar. But he was not destined to rule for long; the revolutionary did not want to carry out reforms in the interests of the lower classes, and without receiving the support of the majority, he soon fled the country again, this time to Jamaica. A year later, having secured the support of the President of Haiti, Bolivar and his troops landed in Venezuela. A new stage of the struggle begins. This time he realized the need for reform. Bolivar abolished slavery and rewarded his loyal soldiers with their own land. Now the support of the people was guaranteed to him.
In 1818, help for Bolivar came from London. The British sent soldiers and resources for the war of liberation. Bolivar moved troops to Colombia. By 1822, the brave freedom fighter managed to liberate from Spanish rule not only his Venezuela, but also Ecuador, and by 1824 also Peru. Bolivar liked the US government system. He dreamed of creating something similar in South America. In fact, he succeeded, because Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador were united into the Republic of Gran Colombia, which was headed by the main freedom fighter - Bolivar.
Unfortunately, his republic was not destined to exist for long in the arena of world history; a new civil war began. In 1828, there was an attempt on Bolivar's life. Two years later, Ecuador and Venezuela seceded from the republic. In the same year, Bolivar resigned, he was driven to despair due to the fact that he had become a stranger in his native Venezuela, for which he had fought so hard. Soon the revolutionary died. Simon was a major figure in the liberation of South America from Spanish oppression. his is interesting and controversial. He was a strong and courageous man, driven forward by the ideals of freedom.
Bolivar prepared the ideological basis for the entire liberation movement; he was a good speaker, an excellent ideologist and organizer. But one should not exaggerate his abilities. He was opposed by small, untrained crowds of armed men. Although not a great strategist or tactician, Bolivar was very strong in spirit and always brought his affairs to a victorious end. Bolivar is often compared to. And, this comparison is fair. But the hero of South America should still be put one step lower. And the reason is, in principle, one. For the United States they played a more significant role than the countries liberated by Simon.
Simon was born on July 24, 1783 into the noble Creole family of Juan Vincente Bolivar (1726-1786) of former Basque origin. The Bolivar family came from the town of La Puebla de Bolivar in Vizcaya, Spain, then located in the Marquina district, and with the beginning of colonial life the family took an active part in the life of Venezuela. The boy lost his parents early. The upbringing and formation of Bolivar’s worldview was greatly influenced by his teacher and older friend, the prominent educator Simon Rodriguez. In 1799, Simon's relatives decided to send him to Spain, to Madrid, away from the restless Caracas. There Simon Bolivar studied law, then went on a trip to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, England and France. While living in Paris, Bolivar attended the Ecole Polytechnique for some time. In 1805, Bolivar visited the United States of America and here he conceived his plan for the liberation of South America from Spanish rule.
Venezuelan Republic
He took an active part in the overthrow of Spanish rule in Venezuela (April 1810) and the proclamation of its independent republic (1811). That same year, Bolivar was sent by the revolutionary junta (people's assembly) to London to seek support from the British government. The latter, however, chose to remain neutral. Bolivar left agent Louis-Lopez Mendez in London to conclude an agreement on behalf of Venezuela for a loan and the recruitment of soldiers and returned back with the transport of weapons. The Spaniards turned to the semi-wild inhabitants of the Venezuelan steppes (llaneros) for help. The war took on the most brutal character. Bolivar decided to respond in kind, ordering the extermination of all captives. After the latter was defeated by Spanish troops, in 1812 he settled in New Granada (now Colombia), where he wrote the “Manifesto from Cartagena”, and at the beginning of 1813 he returned to his homeland. In August 1813, his troops occupied Caracas; The 2nd Venezuelan Republic was created, headed by Bolivar. However, not daring to carry out reforms in the interests of the lower classes, he failed to gain their support and was defeated in 1814. Forced to seek refuge in Jamaica, in September 1815 he published an open letter there, expressing confidence in the imminent liberation of Spanish America.
Education Colombia
Finally realizing the need to free slaves and solve other social problems, Bolivar convinced Haitian President A. Petion to provide military assistance to the rebels and in December 1816 landed on the coast of Venezuela. The abolition of slavery (1816) and the decree issued in 1817 on allocating land to the soldiers of the liberation army allowed him to expand his social base. After an unsuccessful attempt to gather all the leaders of the revolution around him in order to act according to a common plan, Bolivar, with the help of Brion (a Dutch merchant), took possession of Angostura in May 1817 and raised the whole of Guiana against Spain. Bolívar then ordered the arrest of his former associates Piara and Marino (the former was executed on October 16, 1817). In February 1818, thanks to the sending of soldiers from London, he managed to form a new army. Following successful actions in Venezuela, his troops liberated New Granada in 1819. In December 1819, he was elected president of the Republic of Colombia proclaimed by the National Congress in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolivar), which included Venezuela and New Granada. In 1822, the Colombians expelled Spanish forces from the province of Quito (now Ecuador), which annexed Colombia.
Liberation of South America
On June 24, 1821, near the settlement of Carabobo in Venezuela, the volunteer army of Simon Bolivar inflicted a crushing defeat on the Spanish royal army. In July 1822, Bolivar met in Guayaquil with Jose de San Martin, whose army had already liberated part of Peru, but was unable to agree with him on joint actions. After the resignation of San Martin (September 20, 1822), he sent Colombian units to Peru in 1823, and in 1824 (August 6 at Junin and December 9 on the Ayacucho plain) the last Spanish forces on the American continent were defeated. Venezuela, which declared independence in 1811, was completely liberated from the colonialists only in 1824. Bolivar, who became the dictator of Peru in February 1824, headed the Republic of Bolivia, created in 1825 on the territory of Upper Peru, named after him.
Collapse of the Colombian Federation
According to Bolivar's plan, the Southern United States (Sur de Estados Unidos) was formed, which was to include Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, La Plata and Chile. On June 22, 1826, Bolivar convened a congress in Panama from representatives of all these states, which, however, soon collapsed.
Soon after Bolivar's project became widely known, he began to be accused of wanting to create an empire under his rule, where he would play the role of Napoleon. Party strife began in Colombia. Some of the deputies, led by General Paez, proclaimed autonomy, others wanted to adopt the Bolivian Code.
Bolivar quickly arrived in Colombia and, having assumed dictatorial powers, convened a national assembly in Ocaña on March 2, 1828, to discuss the question: “Should the constitution of the state be reformed?” The Congress could not reach a final agreement and adjourned after several meetings.
Meanwhile, the Peruvians rejected the Bolivian Code and took away the title of President for Life from Bolivar. Having lost power in Peru and Bolivia, Bolivar entered Bogota on June 20, 1828, where he established his residence as ruler of Colombia. But already on September 25, 1828, the federalists broke into his palace, killed the sentries, and Bolivar himself escaped only by a miracle. However, the bulk of the population took his side, and this allowed Bolivar to suppress the rebellion, which was led by Vice President Santander. The head of the conspirators was first sentenced to death and then expelled from the country along with 70 of his supporters.
The following year the anarchy intensified. On November 25, 1829, in Caracas itself, 486 noble citizens proclaimed the separation of Venezuela from Colombia. Bolivar, whose business was completely collapsing, gradually lost all influence and power.
In his brief to the congress meeting in Bogotá in January 1830 to reform Colombia's government, Bolívar complained about the unfair accusations against him coming from Europe and America.
At the beginning of 1830, he resigned and soon died near the Colombian city of Santa Marta on December 17, 1830. Before his death, Bolivar renounced his lands, houses and even his state pension and spent whole days contemplating from the window the picturesque landscapes of the local “snowy mountains” - the Sierra -Nevada.
In 2010, Bolivar's body was exhumed by order of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in order to establish the causes of his death. For the new burial, Chavez presented a new coffin made of mahogany and inlaid with diamonds, pearls and gold stars.
Criticism
The USA, as a young state that relatively recently became sovereign, was interested in expanding its territories and spheres of influence. However, the path to this goal was blocked by French and Spanish colonial possessions. If the issue with Louisiana was resolved by purchase (1803), then with the Spanish Viceroyalties the situation was much more complicated. However, Washington found a way to solve this problem. The United States began to actively spread the ideas of the American Revolution among young members of the aristocracy, dissatisfied with their unfair conditions in the colonies. One of whom was Bolivar. The states actively helped with the necessary resources for the “noble” goals of liberating the Spanish colonies from the mother country. Soon England, which had its own interests, joined this process. The liberation movements quickly developed into fierce fighting between representatives of the same people, split into supporters of the monarchy and republicans. The shortage of new weapons encouraged both sides to purchase them from Britain and the United States. The disintegration of the Viceroyalties into small state entities began. The civil war led to sharp impoverishment of the regions, loss of life, epidemics, famine, constant rebellions and coups d'etat. This dealt a strong blow to the development of the regions and contributed to the start of British and American interventions. In many ways, the responsibility for these processes lies with the fiery revolutionaries themselves: Simon Bolivar and José de San Martin, who fought fiercely and actively promoted their plans. However, they were unable or unwilling to defend the integrity of the young states and prevent the expansion of the Great Powers in Latin America, preferring to retreat from politics in recent years.
Bolivarian
In Latin America, the name Bolivar is very popular. It is immortalized in the names of the state of Bolivia, provinces, cities, streets, monetary units (boliviano - Bolivia, bolivar - Venezuela), with the help of numerous monuments. Biographical essays, works of art, and historical works are dedicated to him. The strongest football club in Bolivia is called Bolivar.
Since 1822, Bolivar’s faithful friend and inseparable life partner, despite all the vicissitudes of his fate, was a native of the city of Quito, the Creole Manuela Saenz.
According to unofficial data, Simon Bolivar won 472 battles.
Bolivar is the main character in the novel The General in His Labyrinth by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. Events develop in the last year of the general’s life. Biographies of Bolivar were written by Emil Ludwig and Ukrainian classicist Ivan Franko. Karl Marx gave a negative characterization of the Liberator in one of his articles. Therefore, in Soviet literature, Bolivar has long been characterized as a dictator who expressed the interests of the bourgeoisie and landowners. The famous intelligence officer and Latinist Joseph Romualdovich Grigulevich decided to break with this tradition and wrote a biography of Bolivar under the pseudonym Lavretsky for the ZhZL series. For his work, Grigulevich was awarded the Venezuelan Order of Miranda and accepted into the Colombian Writers Association.
Bolivar in Freemasonry
It is known that Bolivar was initiated into Freemasonry in Spain, in Cadiz. From 1807 he was a member of the Scottish Rite. In 1824, he founded Lodge "Order and Liberty" No. 2 in Peru.
