Bolivar
Bolivar names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Bolivar SIMON, an American military officer and statesman (named EL LIBERTADOR
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SIMON, an American military officer and statesman (named EL LIBERTADOR, from his having rescued central South America from the Spanish yoke), born in Caracas, July 24, 1783. He descended from a noble and wealthy family, received his university education at Madrid, married and returned to South America. His wife dying, he visited Europe, and then returned to Venezuela, entering the service of the newly founded republic as a Colonel. In June, 1810, he was in London, endeavoring to induce the British cabinet to assist the Independent party against the Royalists and, in the following year, he was acting as Governor of Puerto Cabello, the strongest fortress of Venezuela. In 1821, the Independent troops were successful in the battle of Carabobo, where the Royalists lost upward of 6,000 men, and which decided the cause against Spain. On August 20 of the same year, a Republican Constitution was adopted, and decreed to continue, as then defined, till 1834. Bolivar was chosen President. In 1823 he assisted the Peruvians to obtain their independence, and was declared their liberator, and invested with supreme authority. On Feb. 10, 1825, however, he convoked a Congress, and resigned his dictatorship. He now visited the upper provinces of Peru, which, calling a convention at Chuquisaca, gave the name of Bolivia to their country, in honor of their liberator, and appointed him Perpetual Protector, and to draw up a constitution. On May 25, 1836, he presented his Bolivian code to the Congress of Bolivia, which was afterward adopted. It was subsequently adopted by the Congress of Lima, where, under its provisions, he himself was elected President for life. He now set out for Colombia. His conduct here was misconstrued, and he was supposed to be assuming the powers of a dictator. In 1829 new disturbances arose, and, in 1830, a convention was called for the purpose of framing a new constitution for Colombia. The proceedings were begun by Bolivar, who once more tendered his resignation. This was his last act which had relation to public affairs. He died at San Pedro, near Santa Marta, Dec. 17, 1830.
Bolivar the largest state of Venezuela
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the largest state of Venezuela, South America, comprising that portion of Venezuela which lies S. of the Orinoco and Apure rivers; area, 88,701 square miles; pop. about 70,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's account of Simon Bolivar in 1921 still tracks the standard biography, though its date for the Bolivian code should read 1826 rather than 1836. What has changed is his afterlife: in 1999 Hugo Chavez renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and built a governing ideology, "Bolivarianism," around him, and in 2010 he had Bolivar's remains exhumed in Caracas to test the theory that the Liberator was poisoned rather than killed by tuberculosis; no such proof emerged. The state of Bolivar, given as "pop. about 70,000" in 1921, now holds well over a million people, its growth driven by the iron and gold of the Guayana region, the industrial city of Ciudad Guayana founded in 1961, and the vast Guri hydroelectric dam on the Caroni, completed in 1986, which long supplied a large share of Venezuela's electricity.
Written for this edition, 2026.