Bernardo O'Higgins

**Bernardo O'Higgins**

Appointment:	February 16, 1817
End of term:	January 28, 1823
Predecessor:	Francisco de Lastra
Successor:	Ramón Freire y Serrano
Born:	August 20, 1778
Died:	October 24, 1842

Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (born August 20, 1778 in Chillán , Chile , † October 24, 1842 in Lima , Peru ) was a military and independence fighter in Chile. From 1817 to 1823 he was the first Director Supremo of Chile.

Life

Bernardo O'Higgins was born in Chillán as the illegitimate son of Ambrosio O'Higgins , the then mayor of Concepción . Later his father became governor of Chile and viceroy of Peru . His mother was Isabel Riquelme, a well-known lady in Chillán.

In the earlier years he lived with his mother's family. He had a distant relationship with his father, although he supported him financially and took care of his education. Spanish government officials were then prohibited from marrying local women.

When Ambrosio O'Higgins became Viceroy of Peru, he sent Bernardo to London to complete his education. O'Higgins came into the circles of the South American independence advocates, e. B. the Venezuelan Francisco de Miranda . He joined the Lautaro Masonic Lodge .

War of Independence

From 1810 he was one of the independence fighters in Chile. He was appointed commander of the movement's armed forces in 1813 . In 1814 he was defeated in the Battle of Rancagua and had to flee to Argentina . The time of the Reconquista arrived in Chile .

In 1817 he marched across the Andes with General José de San Martín and defeated the Spaniards at the Battle of Chacabuco . His arm was injured in the lost battle of Cancha Rayada in 1818.

The battle of Maipú on April 5, 1818 brought the final victory for the Chilean independence fighters. The victorious José de San Martín set up a national government. However, he turned down the office of Chilean President in favor of Bernardo O'Higgins.

Director Supremo

Abdication of O'Higgins (1823)
Oil on canvas
by Manuel Antonio Caro

He was appointed by the country's nobility as the first leader of an independent Chile, endowed with dictatorial resources and the title of Director Supremo . He took office on February 16, 1817. On February 12, 1818 Chile became independent.

During the six years of his reign, he founded the Military Academy and introduced the new Chilean flag . In terms of foreign policy, he supported the further campaigns of San Martin in Peru, such as the expedition of San Martín , which were unsuccessful. These military defeats and his radical and liberal reforms (abolition of the nobility , limitation of the power of landowners and the church) angered the landowners and conservatives. On January 28, 1823, he was deposed.

O'Higgins went into exile in Peru, where he died in Lima in 1842 . In 1869 his body was transferred to Chile. Since 1979 the remains have been in the Altar de la Patria mausoleum in front of the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago de Chile .

A university, a park and a main artery are named after him in the center of the capital Santiago de Chile . The Bernardo O'Higgins National Park also bears his name. There is also an order of Bernardo O'Higgins , and the Antarctic station GARS-O'Higgins was named after him and is operated by Germany and Chile in cooperation. The main central belt asteroid (2351) O'Higgins is named after him.

literature

Alfredo Sepúlveda: Bernardo: una biografía de Bernardo O'Higgins. Ediciones B Chile et al., Santiago de Chile et al. 2007, ISBN 978-956-304-030-2 .

Web links

Commons : Bernardo O'Higgins - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Lutz D. Schmadel : Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition. Ed .: Lutz D. Schmadel. 5th edition. Springer Verlag , Berlin , Heidelberg 2003, ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7 , pp. 186 (English, 992 pp., Link.springer.com [ONLINE; accessed on August 4, 2019] Original title: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . First edition: Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg 1992): “1964 VD. Discovered 1964 Nov. 3 at the Goethe Link Observatory at Brooklyn, Indiana. ”

personal data
SURNAME	O'Higgins, Bernardo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Chilean independence fighter
DATE OF BIRTH	August 20, 1778
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chillan , Chile
DATE OF DEATH	October 24, 1842
Place of death	Lima

[1] Lutz D. Schmadel : Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition. Ed .: Lutz D. Schmadel. 5th edition. Springer Verlag , Berlin , Heidelberg 2003, ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7 , pp. 186 (English, 992 pp., Link.springer.com [ONLINE; accessed on August 4, 2019] Original title: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . First edition: Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg 1992): “1964 VD. Discovered 1964 Nov. 3 at the Goethe Link Observatory at Brooklyn, Indiana. ”