A simon rodriguez biography

Simón Rodríguez (b. 28 October 1769; d. 28 February 1854), Venezuelan educator and teacher of Simón Bolívar. Rodríguez began life in Caracas as a foundling.

He became well educated largely through his own efforts. From an early age Rodríguez was teaching and articulating an educational philosophy that stressed the need for practical studies as well as for making education available to all sectors of society, including women.

In his belief in human perfectibility through schooling, he was undoubtedly influenced by Rousseau, but his ideas also bore the stamp of his own highly original personality.

Rodríguez's most famous pupil was Bolívar, who at one time lived with Rodríguez, with the latter serving as guardian, and who conceived a deep admiration for his teacher's "genius." About 1796, Rodríguez left Caracas, traveling first to the United States (where he worked for a time in Baltimore as a printer) and then to France, where he taught and traveled