Custodio García Rovira

José Custodio Cayetano García Rovira (March 2, 1780 – August 8, 1816) was a Neogranadine general, statesman and painter, who fought for the independence of New Granada from Spain, and became President of the United Provinces of the New Granada in 1816. He was executed a month later during the Reconquista, at the hands of Pablo Morillo.

José Custodio Cayetano García Rovira
President of the United Provinces of the New Granada*
In office January 21, 1815 – August 17, 1815
Preceded by	Triumvirate José María del Castillo y Rada, José Fernández Madrid, Joaquín Camacho
Succeeded by	Antonio Villavicencio
President of the United Provinces of the New Granada
In office June 30, 1816 – July 10, 1816
Vice President	Liborio Mejía
Preceded by	Liborio Mejía
Succeeded by	Fernando Serrano
Personal details
Born	March 2, 1780 Bucaramanga, Santander
Died	August 8, 1816 Bogotá, Colombia
Political party	Federalist
Spouse(s)	María Josefa Piedrahita y Sáenz
Member President of the Triumvirate.

Education

García was the son of Juan de Dios García Navas and Rosa Rovira de García, he was born on March 2, 1780, in Bucaramanga, in the province of Socorro, part of the Viceroyalty of the New Granada, in what is now Colombia. He attended the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé[1] in Santafé de Bogotá, where he graduated in 1799 with a degree in Philosophy, and in 1804 he got his degree in Civil Law, and later a Doctorate in Theology. He also attended the Saint Thomas Aquinas University where he studied Painting and Music, later receiving a degree in Fine arts; on April 29, 1809, García also received his doctorate in Law and was officially received as a lawyer by the Royal Audiency of Santafé de Bogotá.[2] He later returned to San Bartolomé this time as a professor in the areas of Algebra, Mathematics, Trigonometry, Philosophy[3] Metaphysics, and Ethics.[4]

García's appetite for knowledge made him a celebrated figure in the Tertulias, and salons of the Bogotá. He formed part of the Tertulia Literaria del Buen Gusto,[5] that was hosted in the house of doña Manuela Sanz de Santamaría de González Manrique, where many other prominent figures like Francisco José de Caldas, José Fernández Madrid, Camilo Torres Tenorio, Alexander von Humboldt, Francisco Antonio Ulloa among others. He also attended the Tertulia Eutropélica,[6] that congregated in the house of Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez and also the Tertulia of Antonio Nariño, where they studied the ideas and works of Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire.[7]

Because of his extensive education, he was known as El Estudiante (The Student).[8]

Political and military life

After the Revolution of July 20, 1810, García started working for the new formed government, on August he started working as a lawyer in the Appeals Tribunal of Bogotá. He was later appointed Lieutenant of the Army of Tunja, by its Governor Juan Nepomuceno Niño. He started getting involved in politics in Tunja since the Congress of the United Provinces was situated there. On July 25, 1812 he was elected governor to the Province of Socorro in a popular election.[9]

Triumvirate

On September 23, 1814, the Neogranadine Congress, modified the Federal Act relating to the seat of power, and replaced the Presidency with a Triumvirate,[10] a three-member executive body, to rule over the country. Congress named Manuel Rodríguez Torices, José Manuel Restrepo, and García to head this triumvirate,[11] but because they were not present to assume power, they were temporarily replaced by José María del Castillo y Rada, Joaquín Camacho, and José Fernández Madrid. García, however, resigned before ever taking possession of the presidency on November 15, 1815,[12] Restrepo never actually accepted the presidency either, and both were permanently replaced in 1815 by general Antonio Villavicencio, and the ex president, José Miguel Pey.[13]

Presidential nomination

On June 22, 1816, president Fernández Madrid, arrived in Popayán after fleeing the invasion of Bogotá by Pablo Morillo, once in Popayán he presented his resignation to the Permanent Legislative Commission of Congress, then assembled in Popayán.[14] The commission named García as President-Dictator and Liborio Mejía as Vice President,[15] the latter, however, became the acting President while García headed toward Popayán to accept the presidency.[16]

Marriage

García, who was leading the forces behind Fernández Madrid on his way to Popayán, was delayed in a short and unforeseen event. When Bogotá was invaded, not only the President escaped, but also did other prominent figures of the city, among them the Piedrahita Family. One of their daughters was María Josefa Piedrahita y Sáenz, known to her family and friends as "Pepita". It is not sure whether they knew each other from before, but on the way to Popayán, Pepita, of only 16 years of age, caught the attention of Custodio, and María Josefa asked to take her with him, as she would prefer to face the dangers of the jungle than to be captured by the Spaniards,[17] their mutual affection escalated, and Custodio asked María Josefa to marry her. And so, in the mist of war, in an improvised ceremony, they got married by Friar Francisco Antonio Florido, who was also fleeing Bogotá with them.[18]

Presidency

Short after Liborio Mejía was vested with the presidential powers, he led his small army to face Juan Sámano in the Battle of Cuchilla del Tambo which culminated with the defeat of the patriots on June 29.[19] Liborio Mejía escaped to La Plata where he met with García and ceded the presidency to him the next day June 30,[20] thus assuming the presidency as first intended.

Unfortunately for both of them, and for the nation, Sámano caught on with them in La Plata, and defeated their weak outnumbered forces. They managed to escape but shortly after they were both captured and taken prisoners.

When they arrived at La Plata the small army they had left was confronted with an army of Spaniards commanded by colonel Carlos Toirá. A great effort was made to fight the Spaniards, but they were defeated on July 10, and those who managed to escape, including García, were captured a few days later. They were taken to Bogotá, and on August 8, 1816, García was executed by a firing squad in the Huerta de Jaime, now the Plaza de los Martires (Plaza of the Martyrs), his body was then hanged in the gallows, with a sign on him that read "García Rovira, el estudiante, fusilado por traidor"[21] (es:García Rovira, the student, shot for being a traitor).

Legacy

García died at the age of 36, leaving behind his wife María Josefa Piedrahita, to whom he had only been married less than two months. After the defeat of the Spaniards years later, Santander granted pension to the widows of the martyrs of the Independence, among them Piedrahita de García.[22]

García is highly regarded as a hero of the independence and his memory continues on, specially in the Department of Santander, where he was born and was governor of one of its provinces, the Socorro Province, which was later renamed in his honor and is now the García Rovira Province.[23]

In Bucaramanga, where he was born, the first statue ever erected in 1907 was in his honor; it was a metal sculpture by the German artist Xavier Arnold,[24] and it is located in the park also constructed in his honor and named Parque García Rovira, in the center of the city, right next to the City Hall.

Also in Bucaramanga, the city commemorated the ex-president and painter opening the Casa de la Cultura Custodio García Rovira, a fine arts museum that holds exhibitions of different painters.

References

1. Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography - Page 110. Edited by John Fiske, James Grant Wilson.
2. Homenaje que el Centro de historia de Santander en nombre del gobierno y del pueblo santandereano, rinde a los próceres regionales con ocasión de celebrarse el primer centenario de la muerte del libertador Simón Bolívar. by Academia de Historia de Santander.
3. Ciencia, filosofía y educación en Colombia(siglo XVIII) By Juan Manuel Pacheco, Page 176
4. Custodio García Rovira, By Javier López Ocampo, Library Luis Ángel Arango,
5. Educación de la mujer durante la época colonial Autor: Patricia Londoño Vega, Profesora, Universidad de Antioquia | Fuente: Boletín Cultural y Bibliogáfico. Número 37. Volumen XXXI "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-08-13. Retrieved 2007-07-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. Historia de Colombia para la enseñanza secundaria By Jesús María Henao, Gerardo Arrubla (Page 309)
7. Moda y libertad. Respiro de vida.Por Ángela Gómez Cely Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
8. Biblioteca de historia nacional -Page 115, By the Colombian Academy of History.
9. Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango Archived 2007-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
10. Revista general de legislación y jurisprudencia -Page 446, By Real Academia de Jurisprudencia y Legislación (Madrid)
11. Historia eclesiástica y civil de Nueva Granada: Escrita sobre documentos auténticos -Page 324, By José Manuel Groot,
12. Fernando Serrano y Uribe Presidente y Márti By Eduardo Durán Gómez, Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
13. Les États-Unis de Colombie: précis d'histoire et de géographie physique, politique et commerciale -Page 28, By Ricardo S. Pereira
14. José Fernández Madrid By Javier López Ocampo, Library Luis Ángel Arango
15. Colombia, posesiones presidenciales[1810-1954] (Page 13) By Manuel Monsalve Martiínez
16. Popayán, ciudad procera (Page 78) By Luis Martínez-Delgado
17. Diccionario biográfico de los campeones de la libertad de Nueva Granada, Venezuela, Ecuador i Perú : que comprende sus servicios, hazañas i virtudes by M Leonídas Scarpetta; Saturnino Vergara,
18. María Josefa "Pepita" Piedrahita de García Rovira, the Gendering Latin American Independence: Women's Political Culture and the Textual Construction of Gender 1790-1850 by the University of Nottingham and the University of Manchester, Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
19. Batallas de la Independencia Archived July 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
20. Rulers of Colombia
21. Historia de la literatura en Nueva Granada (Page 448) By José María Vergara y Vergara,
22. Santander By Pilar Moreno de Angel
23. Nucleo Provincial García Rovira
24. Paseo por los bustos y estatuas Encuentros profanos con la historia by Leonardo Álvarez, Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)