Life in Venezuela (1781-1810) Bello was born in
Caracas and grew up studying at the academy of Ramón Vanlonsten. He was the first son of the lawyer don Bartolomé Bello and Ana Antonia López, whose parents descended from residents of the
Canary Islands. He also frequented the Convent of las Mercedes, where he studied Latin under Father Cristobal de Quesada. After the monk's death in 1796, Bello translated Book V of the
Aeneid. He studied
Liberal Arts,
Law and
Medicine at the
University of Caracas and graduated on May 9, 1800, with a degree of Bachelor of Arts. As well as having unfinished studies in law and medicine, he also learned English and French on his own. He gave private classes, with the young
Simón Bolívar among his students. His translations and adaptations of classic texts gave him prestige, and in 1802 won, by contest, the rank of officer Second Secretary of the colonial government. During the period 1802–1810, Bello became one of the most intellectually influential people in the society of Caracas, standing in performing political work for the colonial administration, besides gaining notoriety as a poet, translating the tragedy
Zulima by
Voltaire. He later became known for his early writings and translations, edited the newspaper
Gazeta de Caracas and held important offices in the government of the
Captaincy General of Venezuela. He accompanied
Alexander von Humboldt in a part of his Latin American expedition (1800) and was for a short time Simón Bolívar's teacher. His relationships with both men became a major factor in cultivating his ideas for his intellectual career. Bello spent ten years after his formal education in his homeland of Caracas. He authored two literary works,
Calendario manual y guía universal del forastero en Venezuela para el año de 1810 and the
Resumen de la historia de Venezuela. Both works became widely accepted in Venezuela, and from this point Bello started his career as a poet. As time progressed, Bello further expanded his notions on
humanism and
conservatism. From his theories and ideas, Bello was eventually hailed as one of the foremost humanists of his time. On April 19, 1810, Bello participated in events that helped to spark the independence of Venezuela, including the dismissal of Captain General Vicente Emparan by the Cabildo de Caracas. The Supreme Junta of Caracas, the institution that governed the Captaincy General of Venezuela following the forced resignation of Emparan, and immediately named Bello First Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On June 10 of that year, he set sail on a diplomatic mission to London as a representative of the new Republic. He was commissioned, together with Simón Bolívar and Luis López Méndez, to obtain British support for the cause of independence. Bello was chosen for his knowledge and command of the English language, which he had acquired predominantly on his own.
Life in Britain (1810-1829) As First Officer of
Venezuela's Foreign Secretariat after the coup on April 19, 1810, he was sent to
London with
Simón Bolívar and
Luis López Méndez serving as Diplomatic Representative to procure funds for the revolutionary effort until 1813. Bello landed at
Portsmouth as an attaché to Bolívar's mission in July 1810. An
English Heritage blue plaque commemorates Bello at 58 Grafton Way, his Fitzrovia address. In 1812, Andrés Bello suffered economically as he tried to return home to Venezuela. The earthquake that occurred March 26, 1812, prevented Bello's family from helping him financially in his return. The fall of the
First Republic ended the mode of financial support he received from Latin America and the arrest of Francisco de Miranda did not make any thing better. In 1814, Andrés Bello married Mary Ann Boyland, a 20-year-old Englishwoman. They had three children, (1815–1854), Francisco Bello Boyland (1817–1845), and Juan Pablo Antonio Bello Boyland (1820–1821). His family situation was constantly affected by his financial situation forcing him to always find new work. He worked for the government of
Cundinamarca in 1815 and the
United Provinces of the Río de la Plata the following year. In 1821, his wife died of
tuberculosis and shortly after his son, Juan Pablo died as well. In 1823, Bello published the with Juan Garcia del Rio which was widely hailed in Europe. His two epic poems by which he was made famous, entitled , were originally published during his time in London around 1826 and documented the emerging culture of the
New World. The second of the poems is the most famous of the two, and is a poetic description of South America's tropical lands in a style reminiscent of
Virgil, a poet of great influence for Bello. On February 24, 1824, Bello remarried Isabel Antonia Dunn, with whom he had 12 children (three born in London and the rest in Chile). Bello was able to become interim secretary again but for Colombia and took charge on February 7, 1825. This job was not what he expected as he was paid irregularly due to the financial crisis in Latin America. In December 1826, Bello wrote a letter to Bolívar asking him to help out with his financial situation in London. Not only did he write because of his economic crisis, but because he believed that his friendship with Bolívar had disappeared. In April 1827, Bello wrote to Bolívar again but his situation did not get any better. Their friendship eventually came to an end when Bolívar gave Bello's position to someone else and Bello had to find another job. In 1828, the government of Chile offered Bello a job in the Ministry of Finance and on February 14, 1829, he finally left the United Kingdom. in the
Dehesa de la Villa,
Madrid (Spain).
Life in Chile (1829-1865) In 1829 he accepted a post in the
Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Santiago, Chile under the administration of Chilean minister
Diego Portales. The
Gramática de la lengua castellana destinada al uso de los americanos, or
Castilian Grammar Intended for the Use by Americans (
Americans referring to Castilian- or Spanish-speaking inhabitants of the Americas), finished in 1847, was the first Spanish-American Grammar, with many original contributions, a product of long years of study. Republished over the years with many revisions, the most significant of which are by
Rufino José Cuervo, this is still a valuable reference work. Bello was accepted in the
Royal Spanish Academy as Correspondent Member in 1861. == Works ==