Simon Bolivar
Revolutionary, military leader, political leader
(1783-1830)
Simon Bolivar, whose full name is Simon Jose Antonio de la Santisima Trinidad Bolivar y Palacios, was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1783.  He was born to an aristocratic family, but was orphaned as a child and raised by different tutors, including Simon Rodriguez.  In 1799 he went to Spain in order to complete his education and returned to Venezuela in 1804.  He joined the Venezuelan revolution in 1810 and in the next five years Bolivar won many military victories.  However, after a defeat by the royalist army he was exiled to Jamaica in 1815, but returned shortly after to lead the rebels against the Spanish.  After defeating the Spanish in 1819, he created the republic of Greater Colombia, and several other significant victories over the next few years resulted in the end of Spanish rule in South America.  He is credited by many to be one of the leading figures behind independence in what are now Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
 
Information from Answer.com and Wikipedia