Camilo Torres Tenorio (1766-1816) was an intellectual, politician, and lawyer born in the Kingdom of New Granada in 1766. Known as the Word of the Revolution for his powerful prose, Torres became one of the leaders of the movement that fought for the first independence of New Granada, now Colombia.
After becoming one of the most prestigious lawyers of the time, Torres Tenório became involved in the fight for freedom in his country following Antonio Nariño's translation from French of The Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
In 1809, Torres Tenorio wrote a letter to the Spanish Central Council, complaining about the low number of seats granted to the American colonial territories. These territories, which had been loyal to the Spanish king after the Napoleonic invasion, were left out of these governing bodies.
The document is known as the Memorial of the Complaint and is considered one of the milestones on the road to independence.
Once established, Torres held the presidency of the United Provinces of New Granada on several occasions, until he was forced to flee after the Spanish counterattack. Torres was captured and shot in 1816.
Biography
Camilo Torres Tenorio was born in Popayán, in the Kingdom of New Granada, on November 22, 1776. His father, Jerónimo de Torres, was a Spanish merchant and landowner who owned large tracts of land on the Pacific coast and in Popayán itself.
Torres Tenorio's mother was Maria Teresa Tenorio, a native of Popayán. The marriage produced eight other children, in addition to Camilo.
Studies
Young Torres Tenório entered the Royal Seminary College of San Francisco de Asís, a prestigious educational center located in his hometown. Among the subjects he studied were Latin, Greek, mathematics, theology, rhetoric, and philosophy. Thus, he received the kind of education typical of the wealthy classes of his city.
After completing this stage, Torres Tenório continued his studies at the Colegio Menor de Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Santa Fe de Bogotá. There, he earned a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy. He later studied Canon Law, this time at the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, now part of the University of the Rosary.
Torres obtained his Royal Court Barrister's degree at the age of 28. He also became a barrister of the Royal Councils.
Over time, Torres Tenório gained fame as one of the most eminent lawyers of his time. The Spanish court granted him the power to litigate in all court hearings held in the Americas. Humboldt considered him "a colossus of intelligence."
Meeting of good taste
Around this time, Torres Tenório began participating in the so-called Encontro de Bom Gosto (Good Taste Meeting). These meetings, organized by Manuela Sanz de Santamaría, were held in which attendees discussed literature and science.
Some of those who would play an important role in the process that led to the first independence participated in this meeting, such as Custodio García Rovira, Francisco Antonio Ulloa, and Manuel Rodríguez Torices. All of them studied at the capital's most important schools: the Colegio Mayor del Rosario or San Bartolomé.
Weddings
It was precisely at one of the meetings organized at the Santamaría Manual house that Torres met his future wife: María Francisca Prieto, cousin of the hostess.
The wedding was celebrated in Bogotá in 1802, and the couple honeymooned in Fusagasugá. Torres and his wife, who settled in the capital, had six children.
The revolution of independence
Torres Tenorio's first known foray into the political life of the New Kingdom of Granada occurred after the translation of Antonio Nariño's Decree-Law of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen into Spanish in 1793. The influence of the ideas of the French Revolution began to create turbulence among intellectuals.
The year after translating the Nariño language, Torres was involved in the so-called Pasquines riot. At dawn, the city walls appeared to be covered in handwritten sheets protesting the Spanish government.
The initiative, the first to take place in New Granada after that of Comuneros, was developed by students from Rosario.
The Spanish authorities' response was to crack down on intellectuals. The meeting "The Sublime Arcanum of Philanthropy" was shut down, some new Granadans were arrested or sent into exile, and a case was opened against several students from the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario.
Camilo Torres, meanwhile, had his library searched, where many books in French were found. Authorities requisitioned copies to make them available to the Inquisition and determine his dangerousness.
I work as a lawyer
After his experience with the authorities, Torres Tenorio's performance with his friends involved in the Pasquines mutiny was quite contradictory.
On the one hand, he defended Francisco Antonio Zea in the trial against him. Despite his brilliant intervention, his defendant was sentenced to exile in Cádiz. However, he refused to defend Nariño, despite their friendship.
In 1795, Torres served as defense attorney for the Hurtado brothers, Nicolás and Juan José, both accused of sedition. Two years later, he did the same for Father Eloy de Valenzuela, then parish priest of Girón, who was tried for delivering a sermon that colonial authorities considered revolutionary.
In addition to these jobs, Torres developed an important legal activity that provided him with a considerable income.
The voice of the revolution
The invasion of Spain by Napoleon's French troops and the subsequent replacement of the Spanish king by Joseph Bonaparte caused great commotion in the colonial territories. News reached New Granada in mid-January 1809, and Camilo Torres was among those who voiced his opposition to the new situation in the metropolis.
In that same year, Torres Tenório wrote the Memorial of Complaints , although its real name was Representation of the Illustrious Council of Santafé in the Supreme Central Council of Spain . It was a letter addressed to the Supreme Central Council of Spain. This was a type of government created by the Spanish who were fighting against the French invasion in the name of King Ferdinand VII.
In his letter, which never reached its destination, Torres criticized the Spanish government and the discrimination suffered by Creoles in Latin America.
Although the letter supported the Spanish crown against the French, it also complained about the lack of representatives from the colonial territories in the different government councils formed on the peninsula.
The Memorial de Torts was not a manifesto of independence, but it did indicate that those born in America should be the same as those of the Spanish peninsula in all respects. However, it played a role in creating a communal identity in New Granada.
Political charges
This period became known as Patria Boba, and Torres Tenorio became one of the leaders of the federalist movement. His goal was to transform the United Provinces into a federation. The centralists, led by Antonio Nariño, opposed this idea.
Between 1812 and 1814, during the first period of independence, Camilo Torre served as president of Congress and head of the national executive. He was appointed by the Federalist Congress, amid a civil war between the centralists and the federalists, not to mention the Spanish incursions.
The civil war soon spread throughout the territory and ended in a victory for the centralists. In November 1814, after the defeat of Nariño's troops, the federalists counterattacked with the help of Simón Bolívar and captured President Manuel de Bernardo in December of the same year.
President of the United Provinces of New Granada
Camilo Torres was elected President of the United Provinces of New Granada on November 15, 1815. His term lasted until March 12 of the following year. The defeat at the Battle of El Socorro forced him to leave office, which was then held by dictator José Fernández Madrid.
Execution
While this civil war was raging, the Spanish refused to give up on regaining control of the territory. Leading the royalist troops was General Pablo Morillo.
Before Morillo's advance, Torres decided to flee in 1816 to avoid possible retaliation. Together with his family, he moved to El Espinal, now in the department of Tolima. His wife and children remained there while he continued on his way to Popayán, accompanied by his brother and secretary.
Morillo's soldiers captured Camilo Torres's family for the first time. All their property was confiscated, and they were transferred to Santafé.
Torres, meanwhile, had left Popayán and was attempting to reach the port of Buenaventura. On this journey, in July 1816, he was captured by Morillo's men. The politician was transferred to the Santafé and was shot in the den on October 5 of the same year.
Morillo's plan to terrorize the population also applied to Torres's body: he was dismembered by his extremities and each one was publicly displayed at the city's four entrances. The Spaniard placed the disfigured head in the main square, nailed to a spear.
Fate of the Torres family
Torres Tenório's family lost all their possessions after the politician's execution. According to the chronicles, his widow had to give up a gold thimble she owned. Thus, despite having a comfortable life, the family found themselves in abject poverty and had to resort to charity to survive.
Their situation didn't change until a few years later. Bolívar, who showed great respect for Torres, came to the family's aid in improving their finances.
Literary work
Camilo Torres Tenorio achieved great recognition thanks to his ease of expression. His oratory and writings earned him the nickname "The Word of the Revolution."
Most of Torres' written works were newspaper articles. In addition to these, his Memorial de Torts stood out notably, a very harsh critique of the Spanish government and the laws that discriminated against the Creoles of New Granada.
Memorial of Complaint
The representation of the illustrious council of Santafé in the Supreme Central Council of Spain , better known as the Memorial de Torts , was a document written by Camilo Torres in November 1809. When he wrote it, the author was working as a consultant to the Cabildo of Santafé.
In the context of the time, with Spain invaded by France, its king replaced by Joseph Bonaparte and with the first independence movements in America, Torres decided to send a letter to the body created in Spain to oppose the French.
In this letter, Camilo Torres complained about the low presence of representatives from American territories in the Supreme Council of Seville.
Furthermore, Torres also listed the Creoles' grievances against the viceroyal colonial authorities. As a Creole, Torres was well aware of the laws that prevented members of this group from accessing important administrative positions.
Torres stated in the letter that there should be equal rights between those born in the colonies and Spanish peninsulars.
This Memorial of Complaints never reached its intended recipient. It was published only after its author's execution, although it was known to much of the neo-Granada population. Thus, it became a reference for complaints and demands in Spain.
Quotes
– I want nothing and I aspire nothing and I will live content with a loaf of bread and a book.
– More just, more equitable, the Supreme Central Council called the Americas and recognized this truth: that among equals, the tone of superiority and dominance can only serve to irritate spirits, displease them and induce a fatal separation.
– Reason and customs are in a free people what chains and dungeons are in a slave people.
– If the government of England had taken this important step, perhaps the separation of its colonies would not be a matter of concern today.
– Heaven forbid that other less liberal principles and ideas should not produce the disastrous effects of eternal separation!
References
- Ruiza, M., Fernández, T. and Tamaro, E. Biography of Camilo Torres Tenorio. Retrieved from biografiasyvidas.com
- Royal Academy of History. Camilo Torres Tenorio. Retrieved from dbe.rah.es
- Bank of the Republic. Camilo Torres. Retrieved from encyclopedia.banrepcultural.org
- Revolvy. Camilo Torres Tenorio. Retrieved from revolvy.com
- The editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Viceroyalty of New Granada. Retrieved from britannica.com
- EcuRed. Camilo Torres Tenorio. Retrieved from ecured.cu