CAMILO TORRES TENORIO: BIOGRAPHY, LITERARY WORK, PHRASES - ARTE - 2024

Camilo Torres Tenorio (1766-1816) was an intellectual, politician and lawyer born in the Kingdom of New Granada in 1766. Known as The Word of the Revolution for his powerful prose, Torres became one of the leaders of the movement that fought for the first independence of New Granada, currently Colombia.

After becoming one of the most prestigious lawyers of the time, Torres Tenorio became involved in the fight for the freedom of his country after Antonio Nariño's translation of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from French.

Portrait and signature of Camilo Torres Tenorio - Source: Fabricio Cardenas - Own work

In 1809, Torres Tenorio wrote a letter addressed to the Central Board of Spain complaining about the low number of seats that had been granted to the American colonial territories. These, who had been loyal to the Spanish king after the Napoleonic invasion, were sidelined in those governing bodies.

The writing is known as the Memorial of Grievances and is considered one of the milestones on the road to independence.

Once this was achieved, Torres held the presidency of the United Provinces of Nueva Granada on several occasions, until he was forced to flee after the Spanish counterattack. Torres was captured and shot in 1816.

Biography

Camilo Torres Tenorio was born in Popayán, in the Kingdom of New Granada on November 22, 1776. His father, Jerónimo de Torres, was a Spanish merchant and landowner who owned large tracts of land on the Pacific coast and in Popayán itself..

Torres Tenorio's mother was Maria Teresa Tenorio, a native of Popayán itself. The couple, in addition to Camilo, had eight other children.

Studies

The young Torres Tenorio entered the Real Colegio Seminario de San Francisco de Asís, a prestigious educational center located in his hometown. Among the subjects he took were Latin, Greek, mathematics, theology, rhetoric, and philosophy. He received, therefore, the type of training typical of the wealthy classes of his city.

After completing this stage, Torres Tenorio continued his studies at the Colegio Menor de Nuestra Señora del Carmen, in Santa Fe de Bogotá. In this center he graduated as a Bachelor of Philosophy. Later he studied Canon Law, this time at the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, today Universidad del Rosario.

Torres obtained his degree as a lawyer from the Royal Court when he was 28 years old. In addition, he also became a lawyer for the Royal Councils.

Over time, Torres Tenorio was gaining fame as one of the most eminent lawyers of his time. The Spanish Court granted him the power to litigate in all the hearings that then existed in America. Humboldt thought of him that he was "a colossus of intelligence."

Gathering of Good Taste

Torres Tenorio began at that time to participate in the so-called Tertulia del Buen Gusto. These were meetings organized by Manuela Sanz de Santamaría in which those present discussed literature and science.

Some of those who would play an important role in the process that led to the first independence, such as Custodio García Rovira, Francisco Antonio Ulloa or Manuel Rodríguez Torices, participated in this gathering. All of them had studied in the most important centers of the capital: the Colegio Mayor del Rosario or in San Bartolomé.

Marriage

It was precisely in one of the social gatherings organized at Manual Santamaría's house where Torres met his future wife: María Francisca Prieto, a cousin of the hostess.

The marriage took place in Bogotá, in 1802, and the newlyweds enjoyed their honeymoon in Fusagasugá. Torres and his wife, who settled in the capital, had six children.

The independence revolution

Torres Tenorio's first known foray into the political life of the New Kingdom of Granada occurred after Antonio Nariño's translation into Spanish of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in 1793. The influence of the ideas of the French Revolution began to create agitation among intellectuals.

The year after Nariño's translation saw the light, Torres was involved in the so-called Mutiny of the Pasquines. At dawn, the city walls were covered with handwritten sheets protesting against the Spanish government.

The initiative, the first to take place in New Granada after that of the Comuneros, was developed by the students of Rosario.

The reaction of the Spanish authorities was to repress the intellectuals. The gathering El Arcano Sublime de la Filantropía was closed, some New Granadans were imprisoned or sent into exile and a process was opened against several students from the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario.

Camilo Torres, for his part, suffered a raid on his library, where many books in French were found. The authorities requisitioned the copies to make them available to the Inquisition and verify their dangerousness.

Work as a lawyer

After his experience with the authorities, Torres Tenorio's performance with his friends involved in the Mutiny of the Pasquines was quite contradictory.

On the one hand, he defended Francisco Antonio Zea in the trial that took place against him. Despite his brilliant intervention, his client was sentenced to exile in Cádiz. However, he did not want to defend Nariño, despite the friendship that united them.

In 1795, Torres served as a defense attorney for the Hurtado brothers, Nicolás and Juan José, both accused of sedition. Two years later, he did the same with the priest Eloy de Valenzuela, then the parish priest of Girón and who was tried for delivering a sermon considered revolutionary by the colonial authorities.

In addition to these jobs, Torres developed an important legal activity that provided him with considerable income.

The Voice of the Revolution

The invasion of Spain by Napoleon's French troops and the subsequent replacement of the Spanish king by José Bonaparte caused a great commotion in the colonial territories. The news reached New Granada in mid-January 1809 and Camilo Torres was one of those who showed his opposition to the new situation in the metropolis.

That same year, Torres Tenorio wrote Memorial de Grievances, although his real name was Representation of the very illustrious council of Santafé to the Supreme Central Board of Spain. It was a letter addressed to the Supreme Central Board of Spain. It was a kind of government created by the Spanish who fought the French invasion on behalf of King Fernando VII.

In his letter, which never reached its destination, Torres criticized the Spanish government and the discrimination suffered by Creoles in Latin America.

Although the letter supported the Spanish crown against the French, it also complained about the lack of representatives of the colonial territories in the different government boards formed in the peninsula.

The Grievance Memorial was not an independence manifesto, but rather stated that those born in America should be the same as peninsular Spaniards in every way. However, it did have a role in creating a community identity in New Granada.

Political charges

This period was known as the Patria Boba and Torres Tenorio became one of the leaders of the federalist camp. Its purpose was to make the United Provinces a federation. The centralists, led by Antonio Nariño, took a stand against this idea.

Between 1812 and 1814, during the first independence, Camilo Torre held the position of president of Congress and the head of the national executive. He had been appointed by the federalist Congress, in the context of a civil war between the centralists and the federalists, without forgetting the incursions of the Spanish.

The civil war soon spread throughout the territory and ended in a victory for the centralists. In November 1814, after the defeat of Nariño's troops, the Federalists counterattacked with the help of Simón Bolívar and captured President Manuel de Bernardo in December of that same year.

President of the United Provinces of New Granada

Camilo Torres was elected President of the United Provinces of New Granada on November 15, 1815. His period in this position lasted until March 12 of the following year. The defeat in the battle of El Socorro forced him to leave office, which was held by the dictator José Fernández Madrid.

Execution

While that civil war was taking place, the Spanish did not give up to regain control of the territory. At the head of the royalist troops was General Pablo Morillo.

Before Morillo's advance, Torres decided in 1816 to flee to avoid possible reprisals. Together with his family he moved to El Espinal, today the department of Tolima. His wife and children stayed there, while he continued on his way to Popayán, accompanied by his brother and his secretary.

Morillo's soldiers first captured the family of Camilo Torres. All their assets were confiscated and they were transferred to Santafé.

Torres, meanwhile, had left Popayán and was trying to reach the port of Buenaventura. On that journey, in July 1816, he was captured by Morillo's men. The politician was transferred to Santafé and was shot in the madrigada of October 5 of the same year.

Morillo's plan to terrorize the population was also applied to Torres's body: it was dismembered by the limbs and each of them was publicly exposed at the four entrances to the city. The Spanish placed his head, disfigured, in the main square, nailed to a spear.

Fate of the Torres family

Torres Tenorio's family lost all their possessions after the execution of the politician. According to the chronicles, his widow had to hand over even a golden thimble that he owned. Thus, having a wealthy life, the family found itself in the deepest poverty and had to turn to charity to survive.

His situation did not change until a few years later. Bolívar, who had shown great respect for Torres, came to the aid of the family to improve their economy.

Literary work

Camilo Torres Tenorio achieved great recognition thanks to his ability to speak. His oratory and his writings caused him to receive the nickname of The Word of the Revolution.

Most of Torres's written work was newspaper articles. Apart from them, he notably highlighted his Memorial of Grievances, a very severe criticism of the Spanish government and the laws that discriminated against the Creoles of New Granada.

Grievance Memorial

The Representation of the very illustrious Santafé town hall to the Supreme Central Board of Spain, better known as the Memorial de Grievances, was a document drawn up by Camilo Torres in November 1809. When he wrote it, the author was working as an advisor to the Santafé Town Council.

In the context of the time, with Spain invaded by France, its king replaced by José Bonaparte, and with the first independence movements in America, Torres decided to send a letter to the body created in Spain to oppose the French.

In this letter, Camilo Torres complained about the low presence of representatives of the American territories in the Supreme Board of Seville.

In addition, Torres also listed the complaints that the Creoles had against the colonial authorities of the viceroyalty. As a Creole, Torres was well acquainted with the laws that prevented members of this group from accessing important positions in the administration.

Torres pointed out in the letter that there should be equal rights between those born in the colonies and the peninsular Spaniards.

This Grievance Memorial did not reach its final addressee. The writing was only published after the execution of its author, although it was known by a good part of the people of New Granada. Thus, it became a reference for complaints and demands to Spain.

Phrases

- I do not want anything and I aspire nothing and I will live content with bread and a book.

- More just, more equitable, the Supreme Central Board has called the Americas and has known this truth: that among equals, the tone of superiority and dominance can only serve to irritate spirits, to upset them, and to induce a disastrous separation.

- Reason and customs are in a free people what chains and cells are in a slave people.

- If the government of England had taken this important step, perhaps it would not mourn today the separation of its colonies.

- Heaven wish that other principles, and other less liberal ideas, do not produce the disastrous effects of eternal separation!

References

1. Ruiza, M., Fernández, T. and Tamaro, E. Biography of Camilo Torres Tenorio. Obtained from biografiasyvidas.com
2. Royal Academy of History. Camilo Torres Tenorio. Obtained from dbe.rah.es
3. Bank of the Republic. Camilo Torres. Obtained from encyclopedia.banrepcultural.org
4. Revolvy. Camilo Torres Tenorio. Retrieved from revolvy.com
5. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Viceroyalty of New Granada. Retrieved from britannica.com
6. EcuRed. Camilo Torres Tenorio. Obtained from ecured.cu