Andrés Bello López

Promoter of Education and Culture in Chile
1827 – 1898

He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, the son of Don Bartolomé, an official of the Audiencia in his hometown, and received an excellent education.

He learned Latin, grammar, and philology from classical Greek and Spanish authors, eventually obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the Royal and Pontifical University of Caracas. He served as a tutor in literature and geography to Simón Bolívar and also accompanied the naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt on his ascent of Mount Ávila near Caracas.

During the war of independence, he served as a second secretary in the colonial government and was a member of the junta movement. After being part of a diplomatic mission to England to seek support for his cause, he ended up in exile in London.

In London, he began to assist Chilean diplomacy, and upon his return to America, he settled in Chile, becoming an important political advisor, an influential intellectual in the press, and a prominent jurist who drafted the Civil Code and participated in the constitutional process with Portalian ideas. He was a co-founder and the first rector of the University of Chile. Additionally, he was a notable writer and linguist of the Spanish language.

Source: National Congress Library of Chile