Venezuela

Famous Venezuelan People: Venezuelan Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

The northernmost country in the huge landmass of the continent of South America, Venezuela has been home to many famous people who have made their individual mark in society and throughout the world. Whether it is by their beauty, strong determination or their sheer talent, these famous people from Venezuela carved their own niche in history.

:: List of Famous People from Venezuela ::

Simon Bolivar
Born on July 24, 1783, Simon Bolivar embodied the title of El Libertador or The Liberator, being a military leader, a revolutionary and later a political leader who provided the leadership to be independent from Spain. He was able, amidst many hardships, lack of support and funds to liberate a large part of South America. He was orphaned at a young age and he used part of his inheritance to travel to other countries and was able to witness the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte. That occasion gave him the inspiration to help liberate Venezuela. After victories and defeats Bolivar was able to successfully lead the liberation of Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and Colombia and established Greater Colombia, comprised of these nations, with Bolivar as its first president in 1819. Two years after he subdued the Spanish army in Carabobo, Venezuela he liberated Educador, annexing the territories to Grand Colombia. The following year, 1822, Bolivar was the dictator of Peru. In 1824 he was able to liberate the whole of Peru and put at end to the Spanish rule in South America. Upper Peru was named a separate state and given the name Bolivia in his honor and he drew up its state constitution. Simon Bolivar became a force to be reckoned with as he dreamt of uniting all of the countries in South America. But his dream was not fully realized because some of the existence of separatists groups that brought political instability. A few months after his resignation as Greater Colombia’s president, Bolivar succumbed to tuberculosis in 1830.

Alejandro Chataing
Born on February 24, 1873 in Caracas, Venezuela, Alejandro Chataing was a very productive and eclectic architect that designed many of the buildings that gave a new look to Caracas. He joined efforts with his teacher to design the Arch of the Federation that was built in El Calvario. In 1904 he constructed the Villa Zoila, the presidential residence of Cipriano Castro, the 37th president and the first one from the Andes to rule Venezuela. The palace was located in El Paraiso. Chataing rebuilt the National Pantheon and modified the façade and structure of the Military School of La Planicie and followed the style of Antonio Guzman Blanco in the construction of the National Theater from 1904 to 1905, according to the wishes of Cipriano Castro. Many of his architectural works were done under the reign of President Cipriano Casto that he earned the moniker “Cipriano’s architect.” One of his last designs was for the Miramar Hotel located in Macuto. Chataing died on April 16, 1928.

Martin Tovar y Tovar
Born on February 10, 1827, Martin Tovar y Tovar was a very prominent painter In Venezuela during the 19th century. Most of his most famous works were depictions of battles in his native Venezuela, including the Battler of Junin, the Batlle of Ayacucho and the most famous one, the Battle of Carabobo. During his career Tovar y Tovar joined many expositions and exhibited his works in several art galleries and participated in the first ever art exposition in Venezuela, Exposición Anual de Bellas Artes. He became a favorite of Venezuelan president Antonio Guzmán Blanco as the painter of the portraits of prominent people of Venezuela. Tovar y Tovar died at the age of 75 on December 17, 1902.

Jesús Rafael Soto
Soto was born on June 5, 1923 in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela and started his art career as a cinema poster painter while still a young boy. He specialized in op and kinetic art as a sculptor and painter. His notable works were penetrable and interactive sculptures made of thin dangling tubes in which people viewing the piece are able to walk through. From 1947 up to 1950 he was the director of Escuela de Artes Plasticas located in Maracaibo. For twenty years, between 1970 until the 1990s Soto’s works have been on display in prominent art galleries in different countries, such as the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Guggenheim Museum in the city of New York as well as New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Andrés de Jesús Maria y José Bello López
Andrés Bello, a poet, lawmaker, educator, philosopher and humanist, was born on November 29, 1781 in Caracas, Venezuela. He was one time a teacher of Simon Bolivar and accompanied Alexander von Humboldt, German explorer and naturalist on his expeditions in Latin America. Bello became the First Officer of the Foreign Secretariat of Venezuela and together with Simon Bolivar served in London as an attaché to Simon Bolivar’s mission to procure revolutionary funds on July 11, 1810. He studied the changes brought about the agricultural and industrial revolutions in England while earning a living teaching Spanish and tutoring the children of Lord Hamilton. He stayed in England for 19 years, developing friendships with Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan revolutionary, Vicente Rocafuerte from Ecuador, Bartólome José Gallardo (poet) and José María Blanco (writer). He handled the diplomatic affairs of Colombia and Chile while in England and continued his writing, publishing Biblioteca America in 1823 together with Juan Garcia del Rio. He wrote 2 epic poems, “Las Silvas Americanas” in 1826 and the more famous “Silva a la agricultura de la zona tórrida,” which described the tropical land of South America. Despite being a Venezuelan, Bello took on a post in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile in 1829 and later became a Santiago senator. He also published the first American-Spanish Grammar, Castilian Grammar Intended for the Use by Americans (Gramatica de la lengua castellana destinada al uso de los americanos) in 1847. Andres Bello died in Santiago, Chile at the age of 83 on October 15, 1865.

Maritza Sayalero
Maritza Sayalero was born in Caracas on February 16, 1961. She is the very first Miss Universe title winner from Venezuela. The Miss Universe 1979 pageant was held in Perth, Australia and Maritza won the competitions for swimsuit, interview and evening gown and the Miss Universe crown. As she was announced the winner and the proceedings for the live telecast ended, hordes of photographers and journalists went on stage, clamoring to get pictures that the stage collapsed. Maritza was able to save one contestant but there were several others who fell through the hole and were injured. Her win inspired others to do the same and the Miss Venezuela pageant became one of the most legendary and competitive beauty contests in the world. And several children and at least one ship were named after her. Maritza married Raul Ramirez, a tennis player from Mexico with whom she had three children. She runs her own fashion boutique where she sells her own designs. She and her husband live in Ensenada, Baja, California. After Maritza, five other beautiful ladies from Venezuela have become Miss Universe title winners – Irene Saez (1981), Barbara Palacios Teyde (1986) and Alicia Machado (1996). Recent winners are Dayana Mendoza (2008) and Stefania Fernandez (2009).

Gustavo Cisneros
Venezuelan media mogul Gustavo A. Cisnero Rendiles was born in 1945. His ancestors are from Cuba. Cisneros is included in the Forbes Magazine’s list of the world’s richest men, with an estimated worth of $4.2 billion as of 2010. His fortunes come from telecommunications, media and entertainment and consumer product company holdings. The Cisneros Group of Companies own Venevision International that produces and distributes Spanish-language telenovelas, which are popular worldwide. They also own a Venezuelan TV network, Venevisión, the Leoned del Caracas baseball team as well as the Miss Venezuela contest. His group of companies has overseas operations in Spain as well as in the US and China. Fundación Cisneros or the Cisneros Foundation has several cultural and educational programs to help improve Latin Americans, including programs for the development of visual arts education and the professional development of educators from Latin America.

Eugenio Mendoza
Eugenio Mendoza Goiticoa was born in Caracas on November 13, 1906. He was a business tycoon, a descendant of Simon Bolivar’s sister as Simon did not have any children. Mendoza’s family suffered financially due to the war for Venezuela’s independence and the succeeding civil wars in his country. Despite that they were able to get quality education although he was the only one who did not go to university. He went into business and became the largest cement supplier in Venezuela and later formed Protinal and went into the production of paints, pulp and paper and animal feed. His company grew and became El Grupo Mendoza, a large conglomerate with interests in construction, cement, heavy machinery, paint, manufacturing, paper mils, banking, insurance, animal feed. His company also owned General Motors in Venezuela. His foundation built Latin America’s largest children’s hospital. He also founded the privately-owned Universidad Metropolitana in 1970. It is the first educational institution in Venezuela to offer business management and finance courses. Up until now, Universidad Metropolitana is one of Venezuela’s most prestigious private universities. His children and grandchildren now run his businesses and foundation.

Carolina Herrera
Carolina Herrera was given the name Maria Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño when she was born on January 8, 1939 in Caracas, Venezuela. She is an entrepreneur and fashion designer and founded her own company, Carolina Herrera in 1980. Her father was an officer of the air force and later became the Governor of Caracas. Named as one of the world’s best dressed women, she also dressed several prominent celebrities, including Renee Zellweger and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Her first marriage was to a Venezuelan land owner, Guillermo Behrens Tello. She had two daughters with him. They got divorced in 1964 and she later married Reinhaldo Herrera Guevarra in 1968, and they also had two daughters. Her husband used to be a morning news TV program in Venezuela and now works for Vanity Fair magazine as a special projects director.

Carolina Herrera has her own fashion and bridal collection as well as 10 fragrances. She is a multi-awarded fashion designer. Some of her awards include the Gold Medal from the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute (1997), Award for Excellence from The International Center in New York and the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts of Spain. Spain’s King Juan Carlos I presented the 2002 award to her. She has also received the 2004 Women’s Wear Designer of the Year and in 2008 received the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. Carolina became a naturalized American citizen in 2009.

José Luis Rodríguez González
Better known by his nickname El Puma, José Luis Rodríguez González was born in Caracas on January 14, 1943. He is an actor and singer who have acted in several telenovelas in Puerto Rico and the Spanish version of Meet the Robinsons. He came from an impoverished family, with his father dying when he was only six. His mother raised him and his 11 sisters and brothers. His mother joined the revolution during the time of Marcos Perez Jimenez and they eventually had to live in exile in Ecuador. Being illiterate, he taught himself to read and focused on becoming a singer, with several hits, including “Dueño de nada”, “Agárrense de las manos” and “Pavo real.” He starred in a commercial for Wrigley’s Eclipse gum, with his El Puma persona and having the tagline of Free the puma within. The tagline translates to Spanish as Libera el Puma que hay en ti.

Maria Luisa Cáceres Diaz de Arismendi
One of the brave women from Venezuela during their fight for independence from Spain, Maria Luisa Cáceres Diaz was born on September 25, 1799. She was from a landed family and her father was a historian, intellectual and a Latin professor. She received her education from her father and showed a deep love for her country at an early age. While Venezuela declared itself independent from Spain on July 5, 1811, a massive earthquake caused havoc in Venezuela in 1812, leading to the toppling of the guerilla republic. Maria Luisa met her future husband, General Juan Bautista Arismendi on Christmas eve in 1813. Early the following year, while her father was visiting a friend in Ocumare, troops loyal to Francisco Rosete attacked the area and her father was killed and her brother who joined the revolutionary movement captured and killed. General Arismendi offered sanctuary to Maria Luisa and her family in Isla Margarita, although her four aunts died during the trip. Only Maria Luisa, her mother and her younger brother survived.

General Arismendi, then 39 years old married Maria Luisa who was only 15 in 1814. General Arismendi became the provisional governor of Margarita, making him a target for the loyalists to Spain. He eventually had to seek refuge in the mountains of Copey leaving pregnant Maria Luisa who was captured and incarcerated, tortured and abused by Spanish soldiers because of her refusal to reveal where her husband was hiding and because of her continued refusal to give her allegiance to Spain. While a friar tried to help, Maria Luisa suffered from malnutrition and torture and her daughter died soon after birth. She remained detained in the Santa Rosa fortress, then moved to Pampatar fortress to La Guaira and eventually sent to be exiled in Spain in 1816 where she was cared for by the Morón family. Throughout her ordeal she had no communication with any family member. While she suffered her husband and his fellow revolutionaries were making several successes. Lieutenant Francisco Carabaña and Mr. Tottem, an Englishman planned to help Maria Luisa escape and she was able to reach Philadelphia on May 3, 1818 and came under the care of General Lino Clemente, a patriotic general. Colonel Luis Rieux was sent to fetch her by her husband and she was able to go back to Margarita on July 26, 1818. The Council of the Indies had a resolution on September 19, 1819 whereby it granted Maria Luisa the total freedom to choose where she wanted to live. She decided to stay with her husband in Caracas, and had 11 children. She died in 1866.

Hugo Chavez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frias was born in Sabaneta, Venezuela on the 28th of July 1954. He was one of the several military officers that held the top position in Venezuela’s political hierarchy. Hugo Chavez is the incumbent Venezuelan president and founder of the left-leaning Fifth Republic Movement. He was also a political leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. He went to prison for two years due to his unsuccessful coup attempt in 1992 to remove Carlos Andres Perez, the president of Venezuela at that time. He was forgiven by Rafael Caldera, the president of his country in 1994. Chavez is a very good orator and was able to sway the voters and he was eventually elected as Venezuela’s president of Venezuela in 1998. He instituted many pro-poor reforms, which include a new Venezuelan constitution, nationalization of major industries in his country and democratic participation of his constituents – actions that were likened to that of Simon Bolivar and his social reforms was called the Bolivarian Revolution. He won the 2000 presidential race and was once again reelected for the third time in 2006. He is a very vocal critic of George W. Bush, former president of the United States and remains a steadfast supporter of Fidel Castro of Cuba.

Oscar D’León
Oscar Emilio León Somoza or Oscar D’León, popularly recognized by his monicker El Sonero del Mundo, is a very famous salsa singer from Venezuela. He was born in Caracas on the 11th of July 1943. He was an auto mechanic by day and also would play the bass guitar together with the local ensemble or conjuntos after work. D’León started the band “Los Psidodélicos” and the “La Golden Star” orchestra. He often performed on stage with a double bass while singing and dancing. He later formed “La Dimension Latina” with fellow musicians Cesar Monge, Jose Rodriguez and Jose Antonio Rojas. After leaving “La Dimension Latina” he organized “La Salsa Mayor” and produced numerous salsa music including “Deja Que Te Quiera”, “Préstame Tu Piel” and “Esperando Por Ella”. He also recorded “Juanita Morell”, which became a standard for merengue music. Oscar D’León holds the prestige of being the first Latin singer to be contracted by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Luis Aparicio
Venezuela has produced 219 baseball players in different positions playing for different clubs playing in Major League Baseball in the United States from 1939 up to 2009. Out this number, Luis Aparicio’s name stands out as he is the first baseball player from South America to be inducted to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1984.

Aparicio was born in Maracaibo on the 29th of April 1934 and made his professional debut as a shortstop on the 17th of April 1956 with the Chicago White Sox and went on to win The Sporting News Rookie of the Year as well as the Rookie of the Year in the same year. He also won the Gold Glove Award nine times and had been a 13-time All Star player. He was had stints with the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox where he ended his professional baseball career at the age of 39 in 1973. During his professional career he played a total of 2,599 games with 2,677 hits and a .262 batting average. Inside the U.S. Cellular Field, home ground of the Chicago White Sox stands a bronze statue of Luis Aparicio, an honor given to one of their most outstanding players. The statue was unveiled in 2006.

Humberto Fernández-Morán Villalobos
Humberto Fernández-Morán Villalobos, born in Maracaibo, Venezuela on February 18, 1924 was a research scientist. His most widely known inventions are the diamond knife / scalpel for ultrathin microtomy and the ultra microtome. He was also cited as a great contributor in the development of the electron microscope and was also the first person to explore the concept of cryo-ultramicrotomy for the three-dimensional study of unfixed cells and tissues. He had worked for the Apollo Project in NASA, founded the Institute of Neurological and Brain Studies in Venezuela and had taught at the University of Stockholm where his wife hailed from, the University of Chicago as well as MIT. Dr. Fernandez-Moran received the John Scott Award in 1967 for his diamond scalpel invention and the Order of the Polar Star, the fifth grade order of merit from Sweden. He died on March 17, 1999, was cremated and his ashes brought to Stockholm, Sweden.

:: References ::
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Venezuela-FAMOUS-VENEZUELANS.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.interholidays.co.uk/destinations/south-america/venezuela/general-info/famous-people.html