7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

struggle despite all the emperor’s pleading, and he was

forced to abdicate on April 6, 1814. Napoleon was exiled to

Elba. However, he remained on Elba for only 10 months.

In March 1815 he escaped and landed in France. Escorted

by a thousand of his old guard, he began a triumphant

march on Paris, picking up support along the way.

Hundreds rallied to his side. For a brief time, known as the

Hundred Days, Napoleon enjoyed a return to his former

glory, but it ended at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18,

1815, where he suffered his final defeat by a combined

English and Prussian force. He was forced to abdicate

once again. He was sent into final exile to St. Helena Island,

where he died in 1821.

Simón Bolívar

(b. July 24, 1783, Caracas, New Granada [now in Venezuela]—d.

Dec. 17, 1830, near Santa Marta, Colom.)

S

imón Bolívar, known as the Liberator (El Libertador),

was a soldier and statesman who led the revolutions

against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of New Granada in

South America. He was president of Gran Colombia

(1819 –30) and dictator of Peru from 1823 to 1826. Bolívar is

still honoured as a hero and liberator in Latin America.

Early Years and Independence Movement

The son of a Venezuelan aristocrat of Spanish descent,

Bolívar was born to wealth and position in 1783. At the age

of 16, Bolívar was sent to Europe to complete his educa-

tion. Influenced by European rationalism, he joined

Venezuela’s independence movement (Venezuela was part

of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, under Spanish rule)

and became a prominent political and military leader. In