Portal:Latin America/Selected Historical Figure

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (July 24, 1783 – December 17, 1830) was a South American revolutionary leader. Credited with leading the fight for independence in what are now the countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia, he is revered as a hero in these countries and throughout much of the rest of Latin America. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He later married María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alaysa. She died of yellow fever, and he never remarried. He was the first president of Bolivia when it became independent from Spain in 1824. Bolivar is known as the George Washington of South America. In Spanish he is known as "El Libertador" (The Liberator).