Death of
the liberator

After resigning the presidency and suffering the devastating blow of the assassination of Grand Marshal of Ayacucho, Antonio José de Sucre, a weakened Simón Bolívar embarked on his final journey. On December 1, 1830, the schooner Manuel anchored in Santa Marta, bringing the Liberator after an exhausting voyage up the Magdalena River from the capital. Escorted for the final leg by the American ship USS Grampus, Bolívar was initially received at the Customs House.

Under the care of the French physician Alexandre Próspero Révérend, and given the severity of his tuberculosis, the Liberator accepted the hospitality of the Spanish nobleman Joaquín de Mier y Benítez on December 6, moving to the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino. It was in this residence, between December 10 and 11, that in a final moment of lucidity he dictated his will and his Last Proclamation.

There, the man who gave freedom to a continent uttered his most sacred wish: "If my death contributes to the end of partisan strife and the consolidation of unity, I will descend peacefully to the grave." At 1:03 p.m. on December 17, 1830, at the age of 47, the Sun of Colombia died. Dressed in a borrowed shirt and surrounded by the modesty of his last faithful followers, Bolívar became a legend, leaving a void that only his ideal of unity could fill.