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.
During his training, Bolívar was influenced by the thought of European figures 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 see first-hand the entire humanistic and cultural movement of the time.
Key points of Bolívar’s intellectual formation
Tutors who most influenced
Bolívar’s education, as was customary among the high-society criollos of the time, took place mainly with private tutors outside the common educational institutions.
At the age of 12, Bolívar lived with Simón Rodríguez, who was possibly the most influential tutor he ever had. Rodríguez was one of the most outstanding teachers in 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, Bolívar and Bello’s relationship was always complicated by the rebellious nature 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 the intellectual formation of Bolívar
Rousseau was one of the main influences on Bolívar’s upbringing. 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 It was one of the works that Bolívar kept until his death.
Another of the works that the liberator always kept in mind in his training were by Raimondo Montecuccoli, a prominent Italian soldier from the 17th century, on military art and war.
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
In Europe, Bolívar received in-depth training in the thought of historians, artists and philosophers of various kinds. There, according to his own words, he delved into the works of characters like Locke and Montesquieu.
In addition to humanistic subjects, Bolívar was trained in Europe in various 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.