GENEALOGICAL TREE OF SIMÓN BOLÍVAR: FAMILY OF THE LIBERATOR - HISTORY - 2025

The family tree of Simon Bolivar is very extensive. Simon inherits his name from his predecessors, who played important political roles. Known as El Libertador, Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader recognized for playing a leading role in many Latin American countries achieving their independence. He played the main role in the formation of Gran Colombia in 1819.

Born into a wealthy aristocratic family, Bolívar lost his parents when he was young. He married at the young age of 18 but lost his wife to illness a year later, an event that turned out to be a turning point in his life and pushed him to join the independence movements taking place in South America..

Simón Bolívar family tree

Simón Bolívar «the old man»: fifth grandfather

In the ancestry of Simón Bolívar the name Simón is a recurring name in his family history. Simón Bolívar's fifth grandfather, Simón Ochoa de la Rementería de Bolíbar-Jáuregui was the first to arrive in America, he settled in Santo Domingo in 1559 and married Ana Hernández de Castro.

"Simón el viejo" as he was known, was born in 1532 in the Ondarroa Valley, Vizcaya, in the town called Bolíbar, a town founded by this family around the 10th century. He was the son of Martin Ochoa de Bolívar and Andixpe and Magdalena Jáuregui.

In Santo Domingo, Simón Bolívar Ibargüen conceived his first-born Simón Bolívar de Castro, this being the fourth grandfather of the Liberator and the first Bolívar born in the American continent.

Simón Bolívar Ibargüen arrived in Venezuela in the year 1588 where he served as Procurator of the Province, making Caracas the capital of the Province of Venezuela.

Among the achievements of Simón Bolívar's fifth grandfather, the Liberator, are the abolition of forced labor for the natives, creating the Tridentine Seminary that later would become the University of Caracas, today the Central University of Venezuela. He also managed to authorize the coat of arms of the city of Santiago León de Caracas.

Simón Bolívar «the waiter»: fourth grandfather

Simón Bolívar y Castro, better known as “Simón el mozo”, married Beatriz Díaz Rojas, with whom he had 2 children, Luisa and Antonio. Simón Bolívar y Castro stood out as a defender of the indigenous people and also was the one who consolidated the Hacienda de San Mateo, one of the most prosperous and productive estates in the Province of Venezuela.

He became a widower, dedicated himself to ecclesiastical life and was appointed general visitor of the bishopric and was assigned the responsibility of developing the construction of the churches in the Valles de Aragua.

Paternal great-grandparents

• Luis Bolívar Rebolledo and Ana Ma. De Martínez Villegas and Ladrón de Guevara

Antonio Bolívar, son of Simón Bolívar “the young man” and Beatriz Díaz Rojas, also stood out a lot in the province of Venezuela, where he served as Infantry captain and mayor of Caracas.

Antonio de Bolívar Rojas married Leonor de Rebolledo. From this union, Luis Bolívar Rebolledo, paternal great-grandfather of the Liberator, was born. Luis Bolívar Rebolledo was an outstanding military man reaching the rank of Captain.

Like his father, he was mayor of Caracas and also served as Corregidor and Justice Mayor de los Valles de Aragua.

He married María Martínez de Villegas and Ladrón de Guevara, with whom he had 5 children, Juana María Bolívar and Martínez de Villegas, Luis José Bolívar and Martínez de Villegas, Francisco Antonio Bolívar and Martínez de Villegas, Lucía Bolívar and Martínez de Villegas and Juan Vicente Bolívar and Martínez de Villegas.

• Pedro de Ponte Andrade and Montenegro Josefa Marín de Narváez

Maternal great-grandparents

• José Mateo Blanco Infante Clara de Herrera y Liendo
• Feliciano Palacios Sojo and Xedler - Isabel Gil de Arrabia and Aguirre Villela

Paternal grandparents

• Juan de Bolívar Martínez Villegas and Petronila de Ponte y Marín

Juan Bolívar Martínez y Villegas, Simón Bolívar's paternal grandfather, was born in 1665 at Hacienda San Mateo. He also served as mayor of Caracas, was Governor of Caracas and Attorney General.

He married Francisca de Aguirre Villela and María Petronila de Ponte y Marín de Narváez. He had many children, among them Juan Vicente Bolívar y Ponte and Concepción Palacios y Blanco, father of Simón Bolívar.

Maternal grandparents

• Feliciano Palacios and Gil Aratia and Blanco Infante Herrera

Parents

• Juan Vicente Bolívar and Ponte and Concepción Palacios y Blanco

Don Juan Vicente Bolívar y Ponte was born on October 15, 1726 in La Victoria, Aragua State. He was the first Bolívar to promote actions to achieve the independence of Venezuela and was in direct contact with Francisco de Miranda to achieve this objective.

He also had a fruitful military career being appointed in the year 1768 as Colonel of the Battalion of Regulated Militias of the Valles de Aragua. From his father he inherited a great fortune.

He married María de la Concepción Palacios y Blanco in 1773. From this union were born Maria Antonia, Juana Nepomucena, Juan Vicente, Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios and María del Carmen (died at birth).

Brothers

• Maria Antonia
• Juan Nepomuceno
• Juan vicente

More information about Simón Bolívar

Although Bolívar was able to establish Greater Colombia which included the current territories of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama and Peru, his dream of a united South America failed and his regions became sovereign states.

He dedicated his fortune to the revolutionary wars in South America. Most of the Bolívar family's wealth came from the silver, gold, and copper mines.

Simón Bolívar ultimately dedicated his fortune to the wars of independence in South America and being one of the richest men in the region, he ended up in poverty at the time of his death.

His life was marked by several tragic personal events. His parents died before the age of 10: Simón Bolívar's father died before Simón Bolívar was three years old and his mother died six years later, in 1792.

The person who cared for him when he was young was the family's slave, Hipólita, whom Bolívar called "the only mother I have ever known."

Death of his wife

The death of his young wife was a turning point in his life: In Madrid, Simón Bolívar married María Teresa del Toro Alayza on May 26, 1802, after two years of courtship. Bolívar was 18 years old and María Teresa was 20 years old when they married.

The young couple moved into Bolívar's home in Caracas in July. Shortly thereafter, Maria Teresa fell seriously ill and died of yellow fever on January 22, 1803, less than 8 months after her marriage. Bolívar was devastated and vowed never to remarry, a promise he kept.

In 1804, he traveled to Europe where he met his mentor Rodríguez, who helped him come out of an acute depression and pushed him towards the greatest cause of liberation in his country Venezuela. Bolívar later referred to the death of his wife as the turning point of his life.

He handed over Francisco de Miranda to the Spanish authorities: In 1810, the Spanish colonial administrators were deposed and the Supreme Junta was established in Venezuela, initiating the Venezuelan War of Independence.

Bolívar worked as a diplomat and convinced the famous military leader Francisco de Miranda to return to Venezuela to participate in the revolution.

The Spanish captain, Domingo de Monteverde, began a military campaign against the revolutionaries and advanced rapidly towards their territory. Miranda saw the Republican cause as lost and signed a capitulation agreement with Monteverde in July 1812.

Bolívar, saw Miranda's action as an act of treason and together with other leaders, arrested Miranda and handed him over to Monteverde. Miranda died in the Carraca prison, Cádiz, four years later.

His successful campaign in New Granada was a key moment in South American history: After the fall of the Second Republic of Venezuela, Bolívar fled to Jamaica and then to Haiti.

He made attempts to gain the support of Europe and the United States for the revolutionary cause, but it was Haitian President Alexandre Pétion who provided the South American exiles with money, volunteers and weapons.

With the help of Haiti, the revolutionaries were able to defeat the royalist forces and establish the Third Republic of Venezuela.

The victory against the Spanish forces

Then Bolívar, in one of the most daring attacks in military history, surprised the Spanish forces by taking a route considered impassable, decisively defeating them at the Battle of Boyacá on August 7, 1819 to liberate New Granada.

This victory is considered fundamental to the final success of the Spanish American wars of independence, since it provided the revolutionaries with the economic and human resources to win the war.

"El Libertador", to realize his dream of a united Spanish America, played a very important role in Gran Colombia. Initially it was part of Venezuela and New Granada.

Gran Colombia then helped other provinces still at war with Spain to gain independence while almost all of Venezuela was liberated in 1821.

Quito was conquered the following year and the independence of Peru was assured in 1824 and in 1825, Upper Peru (now Bolivia) was liberated.

Simón Bolívar actively participated in most of these campaigns. Bolívar was hailed as "El Libertador" during his time and is still known by the title.

Bolívar's dream

His dream of a united Spanish America failed with the collapse of Gran Colombia. From 1819 to 1830, Simón Bolívar was the President of Greater Colombia, which ultimately included the territories of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru, western Guyana, and northwestern Brazil.

Bolívar believed that a federation such as that of the United States was impractical in Latin America and therefore attempted to implement a centralist model of government in Gran Colombia. He was accused of betraying republican principles and wanting to establish a permanent dictatorship.

Bolívar finally failed to prevent the collapse of Gran Colombia which was dissolved in the last months of 1830 and was replaced by the republics of Venezuela, Nueva Granada and Ecuador.

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