Dr Natalia Sobrevilla Perea from the Department of Modern Languages will be giving a joint presentation with the Institute of Latin American Studies entitled ‘Andrés de Santa Cruz re-examined 1792-1865’, on Thursday 24 September at The Anglo-Bolivian Society.
Natalia will be speaking on her recently translated book The Caudillo of the Andes: Andrés de Santa Cruz (Cambridge University Press, 2011). Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana was born in the city of La Paz in the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata in 1792 at the very end of the colonial period, when the Andes were still firmly under the control of the Spanish monarchy. He grew up in the aftermath of the greatest indigenous rebellion seen in 300 years and lived through the convulsed times that led to independence. Santa Cruz was an important participant during this time of change. He had the opportunity to lead and fought to shape the newly established republics in the Andes. He was president of Peru and Bolivia and between 1836 and 1839 he established a Confederation between these countries.
In this talk Natalia will reflect upon the life and challenges Santa Cruz faced growing up as an empire broke down and the role he played in creating independent states. The presentation coincides with the 150th anniversary of the death of Andrés de Santa Cruz.
The Anglo Bolivian Society aims to promote and encourage social, cultural and commercial relations between Bolivia and the United Kingdom and full details of the talk can be found on their website at: http://angloboliviansociety.org/