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Hipólita Bolívar
Hipólita Bolívar | |
|---|---|
 Statue in Negra Hipólita Park, in Valencia (Venezuela). | |
| Born | 1763 |
| Died | June 25, 1835 (aged 71–72) |
| Spouse | Mateo Bolívar |
| Children | Dionisio Bolívar and Simón Bolívar (adoptive) |
Hipólita Bolívar (San Mateo, 1763 – Caracas, June 25, 1835), also known as Negra Hipólita, was one of the enslaved women of the Bolívar Palacios family. She not only acted as a mother to Simón Bolívar by nursing him, but also took complete charge of the child, guiding his first steps and teaching him his first words.
When Simón Bolívar was born in 1783, his mother, because of poor health, found herself in need of a wet nurse for him. She turned to Hipólita, an enslaved woman on the family-owned "El Ingenio" hacienda in San Mateo. Bolívar himself recalled this on various occasions, showing in letters (1825) and gestures (1827) the affection he always felt for Hipólita, whom he came to consider "his mother and his father," as reflected in the letter he sent in 1827 to his sister María Antonia, in which he wrote, word for word:
"I am sending you a letter from my mother Hipólita, so that you may give her everything she wants; so that you may do for her as if she were your mother; her milk nourished my life and I have known no other father than her."
Biography
Hipólita Bolívar was born in August 1763 on the San Mateo Hacienda, owned by Don Juan Vicente Bolívar and located near the City of Caracas. Her surname was Bolívar because enslaved people bore the surname of their masters; the name was like a brand or mark of ownership and also indicated the destiny of serving one's master.
From her adolescence she was known as the flower of the Bolívar family's enslaved women, as she appeared to be a beautiful mixed example, a blend of a white man and a black woman; her appearance has been described as "a beautiful and elegant white woman tinged with burnt chancaca."[1]
At the end of 1782 it became known that Doña María de la Concepción was pregnant, and, as expected, her physical condition bound her to a sad situation: the mother could not give her child even a few drops of her milk. According to relatives and those close to the family, "there were two reasons for such a harsh reality: she had no milk, and if she had had it, she was tubercular and could not provide it." The search then began for a wet nurse meeting the following requirements: having good manners, knowing how to cook because she would have to prepare the child's milk, and having the strength to carry him, clean him, bathe him, play with him, etc. An essential requirement for the woman chosen was that she should have recently given birth, or be close to doing so, at the time the baby was born.
For these reasons, as Don Juan Vicente had foreseen, preparations began for the marriage of Negra Hipólita to Mateo Bolívar, also a servant of the Bolívar family, but from the "Santo Domingo de Macaire" hacienda in Caucagua, Miranda State. Hipólita became pregnant, but she would give birth one month after her mistress, to a son named Dionisio (who would become a Sergeant in the Liberation Army), which made it necessary to search temporarily for a "milk nurse" who could provide the newborn's first and ideal nourishment. Little Simón Antonio therefore had to begin nursing with Inés Mancebo de Mijares, a Cuban matron who was a friend and neighbor of the Bolívar mansion, and this continued until Negra Hipólita gave birth.
After that, Negra Hipólita not only satisfied the child's appetite at her breast but later took care of him as he grew older, especially after the death of his father, which occurred when Simón Bolívar was barely two and a half years old. The future pro-independence leader was formed and grew up thanks to Hipólita's care. Bolívar retained a feeling of affection, gratitude and respect toward her; she served as his guide and, after having been his wet nurse, fulfilled the functions of a father toward him.
After the emigration to Oriente in 1814, Simón Bolívar entrusted the care of his sister, Juana Bolívar Palacios, to Hipólita, while Matea stayed with María Antonia Bolívar. However, after the Battle of Carabobo in 1821, Hipólita went to live with María Antonia, who had returned with Matea after seven years in Havana, until her death on June 25, 1835, in Caracas.[2]
Legacy
Her symbolic remains rested in the Bolívar family crypt in the Cathedral of Caracas until March 8, 2017, when, together with Matea Bolívar and Chief Apacuana, they were raised to the National Pantheon.[3] This was the result of a long campaign led by, among others, the internationalist and professor Reinaldo Bolívar, one of the principal biographers of Matea and Hipólita Bolívar.[4]
References
- ↑ Hipólita Bolívar y la Lactancia Materna de la Libertad
- ↑ Hablar de Hipólita y Matea es nombrar a Simón Bolívar p. 12
- ↑ "Llevaron restos de la negra Hipólita, Matea y Apacuana al Panteón Nacional". www.elimpulso.com (in español). March 8, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ↑ Ascenso de las Heroínas al Panteón (in Spanish)
Bibliography
- Fundación Polar (1992). Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela (in español). Vol. Tomo I. Editorial Ex Libris, Caracas. ISBN 980-6100-17-4.
External links
- Importancia de la Negra Hipólita Bolívar en la formación del Libertador (in Spanish)
- Cartas de Bolívar a su hermana María Antonia (in Spanish)
- Las esclavas de Bolívar (in Spanish)
