He was a revolutionary. He was a scholar and a poet. And until recently, he was a doorstop.
On behalf of the Venezuelan government, a bust of Andr‚s Bello was given to the Political Science Department at the University almost 30 years ago. But in recent years, the commemoration to Bello slowly diminished, as he was forgotten and relegated to the floor, holding open the door to a Stiteler lecture hall.
That is, until College senior Adrianna Salinas discovered him.
After learning about a man she refers to as a "Latin American hero," Salinas helped arrange a new home for the decades-old bust.
"This is a wonderful gift to our center," La Casa Latina Director Anamaria Cobo said at Tuesday's ceremony when the Political Science Department donated the bust to the Latino community.
The events took place in the ARCH Building and included a tribute to Bello -- given by Political Science Undergraduate Chair and Professor Henry Teune -- followed by a reception.
"It hurt me a great deal when people in our department didn't know who this was," Teune said.
"This guy is the equivalent of an Alexander Hamilton," Teune later added. "Every Latino knows about him."
And if not, they will soon have the chance to find out -- La Casa Latina plans to add a plaque to the bust explaining Bello's history to visitors of the resource center.
"There seems to be a lot of lost history," said College sophomore Brian Redondo, who attended the event. "This tribute is about trying to get people to reclaim that."
It was not only the history of the man himself, but also the bust now honoring him that intrigued students.
"It's special... a gift from another country ending up at La Casa," Engineering junior Ariel Perez said.
Perez recalled that the life of Bello first piqued his interest in a Spanish class, but added that other students could now learn about him more easily.
And it was learning that Bello stood for more than anything else.
In between his years as a companion to Simon Bolivar he published poetic works -- including "Silvas Americanas" -- which still remain famous. During his later years as a Chilean congressman, he studied legal philosophy and was a prominent figure in writing Chile's civil code of law.
Tuesday's invitation summarized and paid tribute to this life, describing Bello as "a true Latin renaissance man and heritage to our whole continent."
According to Perez, it was events like Tuesday's that would also add to awareness of Latino heritage.
"With more gifts, a stronger voice can be put out there."
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