Simon Bolivar

Simon Bolivar was a Venezuelan military officer and statesman, born in Caracas in 1783, who led the movement that freed much of South America from Spanish colonial rule and became known as El Libertador, the Liberator. After swearing an oath in Rome in 1805 to end Spanish rule in the Americas, he commanded military campaigns across the continent from 1810 until his death. His Admirable Campaign of 1813 to 1814 retook Venezuela, and he entered Caracas in August 1813, earning the title Libertador. In 1819 he led an army across the Andes to defeat Spanish forces in New Granada, present-day Colombia, and continued campaigns brought the liberation of Ecuador in 1822, Peru in 1824, and Bolivia, which took his name, in 1825. He unified the liberated territories, including Panama, into the republic of Gran Colombia, serving as its president until his resignation in 1830. He died of tuberculosis later that year in Santa Marta.