THE MULTIPLE LIVES OF SIMON BOLIVAR AND THOMAS JEFFERSON: (AUTO) BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES AND MEMORY PROJECTS IN THE AMERICAS (19TH - 20TH CENTURIES)

Abstract

In this article, we will examine five biographies, two for Simon Bolivar's trajectory and three for Thomas Jefferson's. We divided the exposition into two parts. In the first one, we will focus on the final chapters of the biographies dedicated to the Hispanic America independence leadership. In the second part, we will focus on Thomas Jefferson's memories archives. Both parts of this article are joint by the hypothesis that Bolivar and Jefferson projected images of themselves, bequeathing their projected memories to posterity and the ways on how to manage them. We take biographies as a source because 1. they contribute and expand the questions that can be asked of these memory projects in a comparative approach; 2. help to check how the cults around the characters are established, once those images are projected beyond their national spaces, being linked to the fate of the continent, despite the heterogeneity of the political cultures present in the American territory.