Antonio Nariño (Bogotá)
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Antonio Amador José de Nariño y Álvarez del Casal (April 9, 1765 – December 13, 1823),Hector, M., and A. Ardila. Hombres y mujeres en las letras de Colombia. 2. Bogota: Magisterio, 2008. 25. Print. was a Colombian ideological precursor of the independence movement in
New Granada New Granada may refer to various former national denominations for the present-day country of Colombia: *New Kingdom of Granada, from 1538 to 1717 *Viceroyalty of New Granada, from 1717 to 1810, re-established from 1816 to 1822 *United Provinces of ...
(present day
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
) as well as one of its early political and military leaders. In 1793 he published the first French to Spanish translation of the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human and civil rights document from the French Revolution; the French title can be translated in the modern era as "Decl ...
in Spain's American colonies. Born to an artistocratic family in 1765 in Santafe de Bogota, from his youth, Nariño was involved in political activities that he knew how to combine with financial and commercial activities that led him to accumulate a fortune. His foray into politics would see him become mayor of the second vote elected by the council of Santafe in 1789, as well as interim treasurer of tithes of the archbishopric, appointed in July of the same year. His fortune allowed him to import his own printing press, which allowed him to create the Patriotic Press (Imprenta Patriotica) where he began to publish and distribute clandestinely various texts amongst his literary circle of which many prominent creoles of Santafe were a part of. In 1793 after having acquired a French copy of the ''History of the Revolution of 1789,'' Narino translated the portion of the text that contained the Declarations of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from French to Spanish and distributed it among his circle. This event would see his arrest along with other members of his literary society by Spanish authorities. Between the time of his arrest in his house in Santa Fe, in August 1794 and his release in Cartagena in June 1810, for a period of almost sixteen years, Nariño was imprisoned except for the interval he spent hidden in
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and
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between the moment of his escape to
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(March 17, 1796) and his voluntary surrender in Santa Fe (July 19, 1797). After his release in Cartagena in June 1810, Nariño returned to Santa Fe in time to collaborate in the organization of the first Neogranadine congress of which he was appointed secretary at the beginning of sessions in December 1810. However, as time passed the unity between the delegates of the various provinces of New Granada would crumble as the argument between Federalism and Centralism arose, Nariño was a staunch centralist and vehemently attacked and criticized his federalist opponents through the press that he owned. This tension would see the federalists split from the centralist congress in Santafe and form a federalist one in
Tunja Tunja () is a municipality and city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 the municipality had a population of 172,548. It is the capital of B ...
. The two sides engaged in a brief civil war in 1812, where Narino took command of the Centralist military forces and successfully defeated them when they attempted to capture Santafe in early 1813. Nariño was not originally a military officer by nature, but would take his first steps in that direction in 1813 when he was president of Cundinamarca and he offered to command the united forces of the State that he governed with those of the
United Provinces of New Granada The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in South America from 1810 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as '' la Patria Boba'' ("the Foolish Fatherland"). It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada, roughly corres ...
, contributed from Tunja by his political rival
Camilo Torres Tenorio José Camilo Clemente de Torres Tenorio (November 22, 1766 – October 5, 1816) was a Neogranadine independence leader and lawyer who also served as president of the United Provinces of New Granada. He is credited as being an early founder ...
, in order to march south to recover
Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...
and prevent Spanish royalist troops from advancing into the interior of the Republic in an invasion effort ordered by the
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. The initial success of the campaign, which Nariño led victoriously to the gates of the city of
Pasto Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the municipality ...
, ended in failure when Nariño was forced to surrender to the military chief of Pasto in May 1814. The following six years were spent again in prison in Spain. Nariño eventually returned to America in 1820 traveling through the Caribbean and
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. By then his homeland had been liberated from Spanish control and had joined in union with Venezuela to form the Republic of Colombia (Gran Colombia). On February 20, 1821, in recognition of his impact and leadership President
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
made him interim vice-president of the new republic. Bolívar also asked Nariño to proceed to install in Villa del Rosario the constitutional congress that would ultimately create the 1821 Constitution and where he ran as a candidate to continue being vice-president of Colombia, however he would ultimately lose the race to General
Francisco de Paula Santander Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (April 2, 1792 – May 6, 1840) was a Neogranadine military and political leader who served as Vice-President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and was later elected by Congress as the President ...
. Defeated politically he was given nominal roles within the government and continued publishing his newspaper "''Los Toros de Fucha''" (The Bulls from Fucha). Towards the last years of his life he became tired and ill with tuberculosis, he decided to quit his public roles and move to
Villa de Leyva Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNE ...
. Nariño died there on December 13, 1823. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of modern
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and a hero of the war of independence. Many monuments, towns and provinces carry his name in his honor.


Early life

Antonio Amador José de Nariño y Álvarez del Casal was born on April 9, 1765, in
Santafe de Bogota Santa Fe (Spanish; 'holy faith') or Santa Fé (Portuguese; 'holy faith') may refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Fe, Argentina **Santa Fe Province Bolivia * Santa Fe de Yapacaní * Santa Fe (Oruro) Brazil * Bonito de Santa Fé *Santa Fé de Goiá ...
, the capital of the
Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...
a territorial entity of the
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. Born to an aristocratic
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
, he was the third son of Vicente Nariño y Vásquez, a Spaniard from Galicia, and Catalina Álvarez del Casal a noblewoman from Santafe. His father had moved to New Granada in 1751 as the Official Royal Accountant of New Granada, and headed the first gunpowder factory in Santafé (modern-day Bogotá). He was later promoted to Major Accountant, an important role that he played up to his death in 1778. Nariño's mother was the sister of Manuel Álvarez del Casal, one of the attorneys of the Royal Audience. Details about his early life are scarce, but apparently, he studied in the
Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé is a Private school, private Catholic school, Catholic pre-school, primary, secondary school, and college-preparatory school, colonial of Plateresque style building, located in the Bogota, Santa Fe district of Bogotá, Cundinamarca Department, Cu ...
, a well-known Jesuit school in Bogotá, which had been founded in 1604. In 1781 during the crisis sparked by Revolt of Comuneros of the Socorro Province, Nariño was enlisted as second lieutenant
flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...
in the Urban Infantry Militia Regiment to defend the viceregal government from the uprising, however he did not take place in any of the confrontations of the revolution. With the rebellion crushed, he returned to civilian life as a merchant establishing business contacts in the important ports of
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and Cartagena as he dealt in the export of tobacco, cacao, and other crops. Nariño married Magdalena Ortega y Mesa in 1785, with whom he had six children. By then, he was already a merchant and proactively involved in politics. In 1789, he was appointed ordinary major of Santafé, as well as General Treasurer of Tithes. By 1793, he had opened his own print shop and had obtained a license from the government to be allowed to print, which would later bring him trouble.


Early political activity

Nariño was intellectually curious and admired the political ideologies of the leaders of the French and
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
s. In his impressive library there was a portrait of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
above the mantle. In his youth, Nariño was a strong influence among the progressive young people of Bogotá, Colombia, hosting secret political gatherings that he called "The Sanctuary," where the need for independence and the means of achieving it were discussed. Attendees included later notables , , Luis de Rieux, Manuel Torres and
Francisco Antonio Zea Juan Francisco Antonio Hilarión Zea Díaz (23 November 1766 – 28 November 1822) was a Neogranadine journalist, botanist, diplomat, politician, and statesman who served as Vice President of Colombia under then President Simón Bolívar. He w ...
. Nariño was one of the most outspoken and articulate participants at these meetings and was widely respected by his fellow revolutionaries. In 1794, Nariño procured a copy of the " Declaration of the Rights of Man", which was being distributed by the French Assembly. He translated the Declaration of the Rights of Man from its original French into Spanish and printed several copies from his own private press. He then circulated these translated pamphlets among his politically like-minded friends. Copies of the pamphlet were distributed to all corners of the continent and created a stirring in the political mentalities of the time. The government soon discovered the material, and any copy that was found was burned. Nariño was arrested on August 29, 1794, as were many of the fellow attendees of his Sanctuary meetings, and underwent trials during the rest of the year and the next one. His attorney, , was arrested as well, so no other lawyer wanted to defend his case, and he and his followers were sentenced to ten years of imprisonment in Africa for his leading role in the political group and was exiled from
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. In addition to this, all his property was confiscated. Nariño had previously worked as a tithe collector (''Recaudador de diezmos'') and was also accused of fraud resulting from this activity. Nariño managed to escape in
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, however, and then fled to
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in 1795, where he devoted himself to the study of the French Revolution and its aftermath. This convinced him of the idea that
centralized government A centralized government (also united government) is one in which both executive and legislative power is concentrated centrally at the higher level as opposed to it being more distributed at various lower level governments. In a national conte ...
was a superior form of government. After spending some time in France, Nariño went to England to look for economic and military support from the British but when he was denied it, he decided to return to Santafé (modern-day Bogotá). He traveled in disguise, but eventually he found himself forced to surrender to the authorities, on July 19, 1797. In prison he contracted
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. He was finally released in 1803, due to his health, and he recovered little by little. By 1809, however, following the unrest all around the colonies over the
Napoleonic invasion of Spain The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to ...
, many people started to meet clandestinely to discuss independence. Some of these conspirators, among them the
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
Andrés Rosillo y Meruelo, started discussing a coup to overthrow the government and establish a republic in its stead, and the name of Nariño started circulating. Hearing of said rumors, viceroy Amar y Borbón decided to crush the rebellion before it started, and Nariño found himself arrested yet again when insurrections started to break all over the American colonies. He was moved to the prison in
Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past ...
, although he managed to escape briefly, only to be captured again on December 20, 1809, in
Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...
. Nariño remained imprisoned in Cartagena, and was about to be sent to Puerto Rico, but he was freed in June 1810, following the city's declaration of independence. Following his release from prison, he had to wait for a few months in Cartagena before returning to his family. In December 1810, Nariño returned to Santafé, and became deeply involved in the creation of a sovereign state, independent from Spain.


The Aftermath of the Declaration of Independence and The Foolish Fatherland

Following the formation of Juntas all over the country, profound divisions became evident when trying to determine what type of government should be placed instead of the Spanish crown. In particular, disagreements on whether there should be a single state in the place of the old New Kingdom of Granada or whether the provinces should become autonomous and independent states became a matter of heated debate. The provinces, led by the province of Cartagena, called for a federal solution that gave them equal rights, and were not willing to submit to authorities sent from the capital just like they had submitted to Spanish authorities in the past. In contrast, the province of Cundinamarca, which held the former viceroyal capital, Santafé, was the richest and most populous province, and assumed that it would inherit the authority of the old regime, its leaders fearing the loss of power and privileges that would come with a federalist government. When the Cartagena junta called for a separate General Conference in
Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...
, where each province would be represented in proportion to their populations, the Supreme Junta of Santafé decided to counter by inviting each province to send a delegate to form an interim government while a general congress was summoned to establish a Constitutional Assembly for the whole New Granada. Nariño returned to Santafé just on time to participate in the organization of the Congress of the United Provinces of New Granada, being appointed secretary. The congress was irregular from the start, as it was formed by delegates from barely a handful of provinces (Santa Fe, Socorro, Neiva, Pamplona, Nóvita, and Mariquita), and was deeply divided on whether the cities of Mompós (by then part of the Cartagena province) and
Sogamoso Sogamoso () is a city in the department of Boyacá of Colombia. It is the capital of the Sugamuxi Province, named after the original Sugamuxi. Sogamoso is nicknamed "City of the Sun", based on the original Muisca tradition of pilgrimage and ado ...
, which had sent delegates, should be considered provinces. In the congress, held between December 22, 1810, and February 2, 1811, Nariño was the leader of a push to establish the Congress permanently in Santafé, a proposal that was rejected by the provinces, which saw in this a push for deferral to Santafé, Following profound disagreements, the Congress was dissolved barely more than a month later, when the members stopped attending the sessions. As provinces were already busy establishing their own autonomous governments, under the lead of Jorge Tadeo Lozano, the Junta Suprema in Santafé called for a constitutional assembly for the province. In March 1811, the province convened a "Constituent Electoral College of the State of Cundinamarca," which promulgated a constitution the following month declaring the creation of the Free and Independent State of Cundinamarca, with Lozano as president. This constitution followed the model of the
Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
, and established Cundinamarca as a Catholic and constitutional monarchy, under the absent
Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...
(it would only declare full independence from Spain in August 1813). While the constitution was mostly federalist, centralist ideas were evident in its writing, and it provided for the eventual annexation of other provinces which would then have to obey the provincial constitution. Nariño, who was recently widowed, was appointed as
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of the city of Santafé on August 30, 1811, and being a fervent centralist, started pushing for a strong centralist position from the newspaper he created, ''La Bagatela'' (or The Triffle), which he started publishing on July 14, 1811. In ''La Bagatela'', Nariño became a ruthless critic of Lozano, whom he accused of indecisiveness. The aggressive criticisms by Nariño and his followers led to a riot in the city on September 19, 1811, following which president Lozano and his vice president were forced to resign. Fearful of popular rioting, the legislature elected Nariño as president and conceded to his demands, which increased the influence of the executive power. The "Congress of the United Provinces," meanwhile, had started meeting again. In spite of Cundinamarca's opposition, the Congress finally achieved an agreement and delivered the ''Act of Federation of the United Provinces of New Granada'' on November 27, 1811, a heavily federalist act. The act provided a lot of autonomy to each province, and an extremely weak president who would be subordinate to the congress. This only made the differences between centralist and federalist ideas even stronger. Nariño and his followers became ardent opponents to federalism and to the congress and were convinced that the economic and political power of Cundinamarca would allow the province to dominate and unify New Granada. Nariño convened an assembly to revise the constitution of the state and make it even more centralist and then decided to annex the surrounding provinces of Tunja, Socorro, Pamplona, Mariquita, and Neiva, but was mostly unsuccessful on both enterprises. Nevertheless, the relentless hostility and harassment from Nariño's partisans pushed the members of the Congress to leave Santafé and to escape, first to Leyva and finally to
Tunja Tunja () is a municipality and city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 the municipality had a population of 172,548. It is the capital of B ...
. This would be the start of the period in the history of the recently founded country that would later be called "the Foolish Fatherland." Soon, the Cundinamarca province became embroiled in
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
against other provinces, particularly Tunja, where the Congress had settled. Nariño ordered General Antonio Baraya to defeat the federalist leaders in Tunja, but Baraya decided to switch sides and support the federalist forces, and many important leaders like Santander and Caldas joined him. Baraya, and the rebels with him, signed an act that declared Nariño a usurper and a tyrant, and pledged loyalty to the Congress. Nariño used the opportunity to request extraordinary powers from the legislature of Cundinamarca, which allowed him to be appointed as a
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...
. On November 26, 1812, Nariño left with his army to conquer Tunja. On December 2, 1812, his army faced a federalist army commanded by Antonio Ricaurte and
Atanasio Girardot Manuel Atanasio Girardot Díaz (2 May 1791 – 30 September 1813) was a Neogranadine military officer and one of the heroes of the Colombian War of Independence, Colombian and Venezuelan War of Independence, Venezuelan wars of Independence. H ...
in the Battle of
Ventaquemada Ventaquemada is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Ventaquemada is located at a distance of from the capital Bogotá and from the departmental capital Tunja. The urban centre i ...
, and was soundly defeated, having to retreat back to Santafé. The federalist troops, however, only started pursuing them more than a week later. Following this defeat, and the subsequent declaration of independence from the province of Socorro, Nariño resigned as soon as he arrived in the city, but not finding a suitable replacement, he was reinstalled as dictator. Nariño then prepared to defend the city, which was put under siege by the Congress' army on December 24, 1812. Nevertheless, on January 9, 1813, in the Battle of San Victorino, Nariño's troops proved superior, and the federalist armies were completely defeated. In June 1813, he was appointed dictator for life, and the following month, the Republic of Cundinamarca finally declared independence from the Spanish Monarchy.


Southern campaign

In July 1813, General Nariño began an intensive military campaign against the Spanish and
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
forces in the south of the country, intending to reach
Pasto Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the municipality ...
and eventually
Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...
. Nariño's forces, known as the 'Army of the South,' and numbering between 1.500 and 2.000 men, managed to capture
Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...
in January 1814 after defeating the Royalist forces in the area in a series of initially successful battles. After stopping to reorganize the city's government and his own forces, he pressed on towards Pasto. Historians have speculated that, had he not stopped at Popayán but actually decisively pursued the fleeing Royalist army, he might have been able to successfully capture a relatively undefended Pasto. As things went, however, the constant raids by Royalist
guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
, the harshness of the terrain, the lack of promised reinforcements from
Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders th ...
, and the delays in bringing up his army's artillery contributed to weakening the morale of many of the troops under Nariño's command, when they had practically reached the gates of Pasto. On May 10, 1814, in the Battle of the Ejidos (Commons) of Pasto, the royalist army led by
Melchior Aymerich Melchior de Aymerich (Ceuta, Spain, 5 January 1754 – Havana, Cuba, 11 August 1836) was a Spanish general and provincial administrator, serving as the last president of the Royal Audience of Quito from April until May 1822. Biography He ...
attacked Nariño's army. After being wounded during combat, a false rumor of his death was spread, and most of the remaining soldiers scattered, only some 400 returning to Popayán. Waiting for reinforcements, Nariño decided to send his officers back to Popayán while he harangued his few remaining troops. Nariño was left practically alone in the battlefield, and attempted to hide in the surrounding mountains, but finally surrendered himself when Royalist scouts found him, hungry and exhausted, on May 14. He had hoped he would be able to negotiate an armistice. He was taken into
Pasto Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the municipality ...
in May 1814, and then sent to the Royal prison at
Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
via Quito on July 15, 1815. From there, he was sent to Lima, where he was taken by ship to
Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
, arriving on the first weeks of March 1816. Nariño would remain a prisoner in Cádiz for the next four years.


Later years

Nariño was freed from imprisonment in 1821, following the revolt of
Rafael del Riego Rafael del Riego y Flórez (7 April 1784 – 7 November 1823) was a Spanish general and liberal politician who played a key role in the establishment of the Liberal Triennium (''Trienio liberal'' in Spanish). The failure of the Cádiz army to se ...
, and returned to his home country, Colombia, now independent from Spain after the republican victory at the
Battle of Boyacá The Battle of Boyacá (1819), also known as the Battle of Boyacá Bridge was a decisive victory by a combined army of Venezuelan and New Granadan troops along with a British Legion led by General Simon Bolivar over the III Division of the Spa ...
. Nariño was one of the candidates for election to the presidency of
Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...
in 1821, which he lost to
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
by the significant margin of 50 to 6 votes in the Congress held at
Cúcuta Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the East ...
, finishing second. He also lost the election for vice president, with
Francisco de Paula Santander Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (April 2, 1792 – May 6, 1840) was a Neogranadine military and political leader who served as Vice-President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and was later elected by Congress as the President ...
(a former federalist soldier) eventually defeated by a 38 to 19 vote margin after several heated rounds of voting. Santander and others had been victorious in battle, while Nariño was not, and his popularity had been severely affected. This is also the year where a constituent assembly met in Cúcuta to draft a constitution for the new state. Nariño returned to Santafé, now officially called Bogotá, in 1821, defeated politically and in poor health, following the many years of struggles and imprisonment. He was appointed military commander, a nominal charge without effective power. By then, he had lost the popularity he had enjoyed in the city during the Foolish Fatherland times. As he had done before with ''La Bagatela'', he decided to create a newspaper: "''Los Toros de Fucha''" (The Bulls from Fucha), to publish his opposition against Santander and his government, but unlike Lozano, Santander was far from weak, and Nariño instead of returning to power came to be interrogated by Santander. His enemies did not want him to be in power because of his origin from Cundinamarca. According to his biographers (arguably partisans), to make sure he did not get elected they accused him of malfeasance of public funds, cowardice, and treason, but Nariño managed to defend himself. Tired and ill with tuberculosis, he decided to quit his public roles and move to
Villa de Leyva Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNE ...
. Nariño died there on December 13, 1823, having become a national hero of Colombia.


Legacy

While playing a minor role in the independence war against Spain, Nariño was widely acknowledged at his time and afterwards as a precursor of separatist ideas. He is mentioned in the last stanza of the Colombian national anthem. At the foot of his memorial statue in
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
he is quoted: "I have loved my country; only History will say what this love has been." The presidential palace of the Republic of Colombia,
Casa de Nariño The Casa de Nariño (), literally the House of Nariño, is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of Colombia. It houses the main office of the executive branch and is located in the capital city of Bogotá, Colombia. It w ...
or Palacio de Nariño, was constructed at the site of his birthplace and named in his honor. The department of Nariño was also named in his honor. Nariño's face has appeared in the $10 and $100 Colombian peso banknotes.


References


El colombiano de todos los tiempos - semana.com



Defensa ante el senado


Bibliography

* Blossom, Thomas (1967). ''Nariño: Hero of Colombian Independence''. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. * Crow, John A. (1992)
946 Year 946 ( CMXLVI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – King Otto I invades the West Frankish Kingdom with an expeditionary force, but his armies are not strong enough ...
''The Epic of Latin America'' (4th ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Narino, Antonio 1765 births 1823 deaths Viceroyalty of New Granada people Politicians from Bogotá Colombian Roman Catholics Colombian governors Colombian journalists Colombian male journalists People of the Colombian War of Independence Foreign nationals imprisoned in Spain Vice presidents of Colombia Colombian newspaper founders Colombian people of Galician descent Burials at the Primatial Cathedral of Bogotá Nariño family Álvarez family