Born into an outrageously wealthy family in Spanish-controlled Venezuela in 1783, Simón Bolívar lost both his parents before the age of 9 and was cared for mostly by a black nurse named Hipólita, who he would call “the only father I have known.” At the age of fourteen he entered a military academy, where he learned a thing or two about tactics and strategy. After he’d completed his schooling, Bolívar, like many privileged South Americans, took off for Europe, where he was inspired by the highly successful revolutionary efforts of Napoleon. After returning home, he would go on to lead the aptly-named “Admirable Campaign,” which eventually succeeded in gaining independence for Venezuela, and earned Bolivar the epithet El Libertador (The Liberator). Living up to his nickname, Bolivar was soon storming the rest of Spain’s colonial possessions, which ultimately led to the creation of the independent state of Gran Columbia, covering much of what is now Columbia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru. In 1925, the “Republic of Bolivia” was created and named in his honor.

Though admiring of Jeffersonian ideals of democracy, Bolivar nevertheless had dictatorial tendencies, and his popularity plummeted when, citing it as a temporary measure, he declared himself dictator of Gran Columbia in 1828. Resigning in 1830, he decided that the life of an ex-pat was the life for him, and made plans to relocate to Europe. He would die before he got the chance, however, succumbing to tuberculosis the same year.