Fermín Toro y Blanco (Caracas- El Valle, 14 July 1806 -

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, 23 December 1865) was a

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

humanist, politician, diplomat and author.

Biography

Within his public life he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, twice Minister of Finance (in 1847 and in 1858), President of the National Convention of 1858 in charge of elaborating a new Constitution, President of the Chamber of Deputies, Plenipotentiary Minister to the

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Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

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and

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 ...

, and Presidential candidate in two occasions. Together with the Government of the Spanish Queen Isabel II he signed in 1846 the Ratification of the Treaty of Recognition of Venezuela's Independence by Spain, the former colonial metropolis. Subsequently, a ball on his honour was offered by the Queen. He also negotiated border delimitations with Colombia and relevant political issues with the United States, European capitals, and Brazil. He is also remembered for his writings and oratorical skills. Even though he was the author of the first Venezuelan novel he is better known for his economic and political essays. The relevance attained by his essays is shown by the fact that he was quoted by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

in ''Resurrection''. He was also active as a philologist and a botanist. He is considered as the best orator in Venezuela's parliamentary history. Within Venezuela's history, he epitomizes the strength of moral character against the oppressive force of government, as expressed by his stance against the attack on Congress ordered on 24 January 1848 by President Jose Tadeo Monagas. All Venezuelans learn in school the famous phrase by which he responded to Monagas' envoys, which wanted him to validate the violation of Congress: "Go and tell General Monagas that my dead body can be carried, but Fermin Toro doesn't prostitute himself".

Death and legacy

His remains were located at the Panteón Nacional on 23 April 1876. Several universities and schools have been named in his honour, including the Liceo Fermin Toro, Venezuela's largest and more prestigious public school. He has been the object of several biographies. One of Caracas main avenues is named after him, while his statue is at the entrance of the Liceo Fermin Toro. The Venezuelan National Congress has four lateral squares, each of which bears the name of a famous parliamentarian, with one of them honoring him.

Family

He belonged to the family of the marquesses del Toro of

. His great grandfather, Francisco Rodríguez del Toro e Isturiz, the second Marquess, had been a colonial

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

and Captain General of Venezuela, while a brother of the latter José Rodríguez del Toro was Rector (President or Vice-Chancellor) of the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

in Spain. Fermín Toro’s second cousins Francisco Rodríguez del Toro (the fourth Marquess) and Fernando Rodriguez del Toro, were important figures of the Venezuelan Independence process, while his also second cousin Maria Teresa Rodriguez del Toro y Alayza was the wife of

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 ...

Works

Among his publications are the following ones: * Essay ** ''Reflexiones sobre la Ley del 10 de abril de 1834''. **''Los estudios filosóficos en Venezuela, Europa y América'' **''Cuestión de imprenta.'' **''Descripción de los honores fúnebres consagrados a los restos del Libertador Simón Bolívar'' (1842) **''Discursos ante la Convención de Valencia'' (1858) **''Ensayo gramatical sobre el idioma guajiro'', (the manuscript was compiled by Adolf Ernst in 1872) *Novels ** ''Los Mártires'' (1842). ** ''La Viuda de Corinto'' (1837) ** ''La Sibila de los Andes''.

Institutions named after Fermín Toro

* Universidad Fermín Toro,

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

* Colegio Universitario Fermín Toro,

* :es:Liceo Fermín Toro, Liceo Fermín Toro (Caracas) * Instituto de Estudios Parliamentarios Fermín Toro (Caracas)

References

External links

Discurso ante la Convención (1858)
Discurso de Fermín Toro en el portal de Venezuela Analítica.
Los Mártires de Fermín Toro. Primera novela venezolana
Análisis de Luis Inigo Madrigal en el portal del instituto Cervantes (Centro Virtual Cervantes).
Fermín Toro: Teoría racional de la sociedad y republicanismo cívico
Investigación de Rafael García Torres para la revista ''Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana'' de la Universidad del Zulia. Trabajo ubicado en el portal de la Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina, el Caribe, España y Portugal; Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. En ese trabajo se bosqueja las ideas de Fermín Toro acerca de un modelo de desarrollo de Venezuela sobre bases libertarias, justas y de igualdad social.
Discurso ante la Convención (1858)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toro, Fermin 1806 births 1865 deaths People from Caracas Venezuelan male writers Ministers of foreign affairs of Venezuela Finance ministers of Venezuela Central University of Venezuela alumni Academic staff of the Central University of Venezuela Venezuelan people of Canarian descent Venezuelan people of Spanish descent Ambassadors of Venezuela to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Venezuela to Spain Ambassadors of Venezuela to France Ambassadors of Venezuela to Colombia Burials at the National Pantheon of Venezuela Candidates for President of Venezuela