50 Fun Facts About Simón Bolívar

In which city was Simón Bolívar born in 1783?

He was the youngest of four children of one of the richest creole families in Spanish America.

By what title is Bolívar known colloquially across Latin America?

The town of Mérida gave him the title first, in May 1813.

Which nation is named after Bolívar?

Its founders declared: 'If from Romulus, Rome; from Bolívar, it is Bolivia.'

Who raised the orphaned young Bolívar and was regarded by him as both mother and father?

His father died when he was two and his mother when he was eight, both of tuberculosis.

Which Venezuelan educator and follower of Rousseau tutored the young Bolívar?

Years later he joined Bolívar on his Grand Tour and witnessed the oath in Rome.

In which city did Bolívar marry María Teresa del Toro in 1802?

He was 18 and she 21; they sailed for Venezuela weeks later.

Of what did Bolívar's wife die less than a year after the wedding?

He swore never to remarry and kept the vow.

Which event did Bolívar witness in Paris in May 1804?

A year later he saw Napoleon crowned King of Italy in Milan too.

Which famous naturalist did Bolívar meet at a Paris salon around 1804?

Humboldt had just spent five years travelling through Spanish America.

In which city did Bolívar swear in 1805 to end Spanish rule in the Americas?

He took the oath on the Monte Sacro, where the plebs had once seceded from the city.

Which country did Bolívar visit on a diplomatic mission in 1810, meeting Wellesley?

He paid for the mission himself and persuaded Miranda to return to Venezuela with him.

What natural disaster devastated republican Venezuela on 26 March 1812?

Many saw it as divine punishment for declaring independence.

Which Venezuelan revolutionary did Bolívar help arrest for treason in July 1812?

He had capitulated to the Spanish; he died in a Cádiz prison in 1816.

Which December 1812 document laid out Bolívar's reasons for the first republic's collapse?

It has been called one of the great documents of Latin American history.

Whom did Bolívar's notorious decree of June 1813 condemn to die?

He annulled the decree in 1816 after his return from Haiti.

What was Bolívar's 1813 offensive from Cúcuta to the Venezuelan capital called?

Its success brought him the title of Liberator.

Which Spanish warlord's llanero 'Legion of Hell' overwhelmed the second republic in 1814?

He died at the Battle of Urica in December 1814.

On which island did Bolívar go into exile in May 1815?

He escaped assassination there when a servant killed his paymaster by mistake.

Which Haitian president gave Bolívar money and arms in 1816?

In return Bolívar pledged to free every slave in the areas he occupied.

Which mixed-race general did Bolívar have executed by firing squad in October 1817?

The execution remains one of the most criticised acts of his career.

In which Orinoco river town did Bolívar's congress meet in February 1819?

The town is now called Ciudad Bolívar.

Which battle on 7 August 1819 routed the Royalists and opened the way to Bogotá?

Bolívar had just led his army across the Andes via the Pisba moors.

Which llanero chieftain fought beside Bolívar at Carabobo in June 1821?

He controlled most of the western Llanos and later led Venezuela out of Gran Colombia.

Who was elected vice president of Gran Colombia under Bolívar at Cúcuta in 1821?

Their friendship later soured into open enmity and exile.

Which Argentine general met Bolívar at Guayaquil in July 1822, then went into exile?

The two-day conference produced no agreement.

Which battle of 24 May 1822 secured Quito for the patriots?

It was fought on the slopes of the volcano overlooking the city.

Which title did the Peruvian congress give Bolívar on 10 February 1824?

It was extended for another year in 1825.

Which battle of December 1824 ended Royalist power in Peru?

The Spanish viceroy La Serna surrendered all his forces.

Which Venezuelan general, Bolívar's closest friend, was murdered near Pasto in 1830?

Bolívar wrote to Flores asking him to avenge the murder; the victim had governed Bolivia from 1825 to 1828.

In which city did a congress declare Upper Peru an independent nation on 6 August 1825?

It named Bolívar president and asked him to write a constitution.

What did Bolívar's aides find in his letter of 24 October 1824 from Colombia?

Congress objected to his accepting the dictatorship of Peru; he acquiesced.

Who helped Bolívar escape through a window during the 1828 assassination attempt?

He spent the night hiding under a bridge; she was born in Quito.

What system was the 1828 Convention of Ocaña set to adopt before Bolívar's allies walked out?

He then assumed supreme power as 'president-liberator' in August 1828.

Which royal house did Bolívar's ministers secretly plan to install in Colombia in 1829?

The plan was so unpopular that Bolívar ordered it stopped and the ministers resigned.

Into which three states did Bolívar's great republic break up in 1831?

Panama split from Colombia only in 1903.

Of what disease did Bolívar die on 17 December 1830?

He was 47 and was buried in a borrowed shirt.

Near which city did Bolívar die, at the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino?

His heart remained there when his remains were moved to Caracas in 1842.

What was Bolívar waiting for in Cartagena during his final months?

He had sold most of his possessions to go into exile.

Where have Bolívar's remains rested since October 1876?

President Antonio Guzmán Blanco created the pantheon that year.

Which Venezuelan president had Bolívar exhumed in 2010 to test a poisoning theory?

The results were inconclusive; any arsenic probably came from his medicines.

What is Venezuela's currency called?

Bolivia's boliviano is also named after him.

In which year did Venezuela officially become the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela?

Hugo Chávez made extensive use of Bolívar's image.

Which American figure is Bolívar often compared to in the English-speaking world?

His remains lie in Caracas beside those of his wife and parents.

What did the guerrilla group M-19 steal from Bolívar's Bogotá residence in 1974?

The group later joined the Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinating Board.

What did Bolívar mean in 1830 by saying those who served the Revolution had 'plowed the sea'?

By then he was disillusioned and authoritarian.

Which multi-sport event is held in Bolívar's honour among Andean and Caribbean nations?

Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela are the core members.

In which Peruvian region did Bolívar defeat the Royalist general Canterac on 6 August 1824?

A conservative Royalist revolt in Upper Peru had given Bolívar the opening to advance before the decisive battle at Ayacucho.

Bolívar's 1819 Angostura Address advocated a centralised government modelled on which country's system?

An Anglophile who sought British aid, he also championed racial equality in the speech and handed civil authority to the congress.

In 1978 UNESCO created an International Simón Bolívar Prize to reward what?

The house where Bolívar was born opened as a museum and archive of his papers on 5 July 1921.

Bolívar's father Juan Vicente died in January 1786 of which disease, the same that later killed his son?

The historian John Lynch called Bolívar's childhood 'at once privileged and deprived'; his mother and grandfather became his guardians.