- Key points of Bolívar's intellectual formation
- Tutors who most influenced
- Works and thinkers in Bolívar's intellectual formation
- Study abroad
- References
The intellectual formation of Simón Bolívar -El Libertador- was marked by the influence of various thinkers, mainly Europeans, whom he met thanks to the influence of his tutors and the trips he made to the old continent.
Bolívar was born on July 24, 1783 in Caracas into a wealthy family. Bolívar's aristocratic origin allowed him to have access to the good education of the Latin American elites.
Simon Bolivar, 1783-1830
During his training, Bolívar was influenced by the thinking of European characters such as Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Alexander Von Humboldt, among many others. Simón Rodríguez, a Venezuelan like Bolívar, was one of his main influences in Latin America.
Bolívar's visits to Europe on various occasions and the events he witnessed there also influenced the liberator's education, allowing him to know first-hand the entire humanistic and cultural movement of the time.
Key points of Bolívar's intellectual formation
Tutors who most influenced
Alexander Von Humboldt (top left), Simón Rodríguez (top right), Padre Sojo (bottom left) and Andrés Bello (bottom right).
Bolívar's education, as was customary among the high-society creoles of the time, was developed mainly with private tutors outside of ordinary educational institutions.
At 12, Bolívar lived with Simón Rodríguez, who was possibly the most influential tutor he ever had. Rodríguez was one of the most prominent teachers of his time and passionate about the works of Rousseau.
The influence of Rousseau introduced by Rodríguez remained with Bolívar throughout his political life. Andrés Bello was another of the outstanding teachers who participated in the training of Simón Bolívar.
Bello was a highly recognized jurist and grammarian in his time, so it was a privilege for Bolívar to receive his instruction with him.
Despite the teacher-student relationship, the relationship between Bolívar and Bello was always complicated by the rebellious character of the liberator.
Among other tutors and teachers that Bolívar had are characters such as Miguel José Sanz and José Antonio Negrete.
Works and thinkers in Bolívar's intellectual formation
Jacques rousseau
Rousseau was one of the main influences on Bolívar's education. His works promoted his ideology and his actions as a liberator.
Rousseau's nationalist character and his conceptions of education for freedom and society were a constant in Bolívar's thought. It is said that The Social Contract was one of the works that Bolívar kept until his death.
Another of the works that the liberator always had in mind in his training were by Raimondo Montecuccoli, a prominent Italian military man of the seventeenth century, on military and war art.
The works of Alexander Von Humboldt and the closeness between him and Bolívar also had a great impact on the education of the Latin American revolutionary.
Study abroad
Portrait of John Locke
In Europe, Bolívar received a deep training in the thought of historians, artists and philosophers of various kinds. There, in his own words, he delved into the works of characters such as Locke and Montesquieu.
In addition to humanistic subjects, Bolívar was trained in Europe in diverse disciplines as varied as fencing, horsemanship, dance and mathematics. There he also had the opportunity to learn and perfect other languages such as French and English.
References
- Bushnel D. (2003). The liberator: Writings of Simon Bolivar. Oxford University Press.
- Collier S. Nationality, Nationalism, and Supranationalism in the Writings of Simón Bolívar. The Hispanic American Historical Review. 1983; 63 (1): 37-64.
- Joshua S. Simon Bolívar's Republican Imperialism: Another Ideology Of American Revolution. History of Political Thought. 2012; 33 (2): 280-304.
- Lynch J. (1983). Simon Bolivar and the Age of Revolution. Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London.
- Lynch J. (2006). Simon Bolivar, to Life. New Haven, Yale University Press.
- Mora EA Simón Bolivar: Powers of the Chamber of Education (1819). Method to be followed in the education of my nephew Fernando Bolivar (1822). Transatlantic education. Simón Bolivar Andean University, Quito Ecuador. 2008; 5: 13-18.