Bolívar, Simón (1783-1830), general, statesman and Latin American patriot

Letter from Simón Bolívar to José Gaspar Rodríguez Francia, dictator of Paraguay, with supporting documentation:

No.1: autograph letter, signed, with printed letterhead proclaiming Bolívar to be "Libertador Presidente de Colombia etc. etc. etc." Dated 1823, Lima. In it Bolívar writes to J.G.R. Francia asking him to release his good friend (and associate of Humboldt), the explorer and botanist Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland (1773-1858).

No.2: translation of the letter into French, with explanatory material, by Mlle Charavay. Undated.

No.3: typescript translation of Mlle Charavay's French version of the letter into English. Probably from the same date (1935) as item no.4.

No.4: typescript letter from Peter Johnston-Saint, "foreign secretary" of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, to S.A.J. Moorat, the Museum's Librarian, referring to the Bolívar letter and its supporting documentation. Dated 1935.

Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) was born in Caracas but, after becoming an orphan at 9, grew up in Europe, where he was influenced by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. In the early 19th century Spanish rule in its South American colonies began to break down, areas professing conflicting loyalties to the Bourbon king Charles IV, his son Ferdinand VII in whose favour he was forced to abdicate, or Joseph Bonaparte who was granted the Spanish throne by his brother Napoleon in 1810. Venezuela became independent in 1811, led by Francisco de Miranda (1750-1816), but the First Republic collapsed under regional and racial tensions, Miranda surrendering to Spain in 1812. Bolívar, at this time a subordinate of Miranda, escaped to New Granada (modern Colombia) and assumed the leadership of the struggle. A rapid campaign captured Caracas and led to the proclamation of the Second Republic, with Bolívar gaining the title of "the Liberator"; again, racial tensions and the belief of black, Indian or mestizo Venezuelans that the revolutionary army spoke only for the white elite led to its defeat and the reassertion of Spanish control. Bolívar retreated to Jamaica but returned in 1816, this time with the support of a mestizo leader José Antonio Páez who persuaded the llaneros or plainsmen that the revolution served populist aspirations. With the support of the llaneros Bolívar was victorious in a largely cavalry war, established the Third Republic in 1819 and in 1821 won a victory at Carabobo that recaptured Caracas. In the same year the independent Venezuela was united with New Granada in the Republic of Gran Colombia. Rule from Bogota bred resentment and during the 1820s there was tension between Bolívar - still campaigning in pursuit of his vision of a united independent South America - and Venezuelan nationalism, led by the now General Páez. This culminated in Bolívar's deposition and exile in 1829. He died in Santa Maria in 1830, having expressed the view that the attempt to unify the continent had been "ploughing the sea". Further details can be found at http://countrystudies.us/venezuela/4.htm.

José Gaspar Rodríguez Francia (1766-1840) was dictator of Paraguay from 1813 to his death. He studied theology initially and was awarded a chair of theology at the Seminary of San Carlos in Asunción in 1790; however, his radicalism made it impossible for him to retain that position and he gave up theology to study law. He became active in Paraguayan politics and became a member of the ruling junta after the 1809 coup that brought independence. By 1811, however, he resigned from the junta, claiming that it had failed to destroy the power of the local elites and was failing to protect Paraguayan independence from Argentina. In 1813 a national congress elected him First Consul. His rule was authoritarian but populist, representing the masses and destroying the power of the old elites but setting up the mechanisms of a police state in order to do so. Further details can be found at http://countrystudies.us/paraguay/7.htm.

Aimé Jacques Alexandre [Goujaud] Bonpland (1773-1858) was an explorer and botanist with some medical training and experience. He accompanied Alexander von Humboldt in the voyage to South and Central America 1799-1804, and was his co-author in the voluminous report of the journey and on other topics. After 1816 he resumed an adventurous and unlucky life in S. America, teaching, exploring, botanising and farming until his death.

At Wellcome Collection:

Letters by or concerning Bonpland occur at MS.7081 and MS.7830/2; his student notes are held as WMS/Amer.103.