Thought and work of Antonio José de Irisarri. 19th-century intellectual in America

Abstract

The beginning of the 19th century can be considered as a time in which great personalities emerged in the American continent, standing out the independence leaders, strategists, military, journalists, intellectuals, scientists, academics, writers and thinkers with a clear vision of future. Some stood out for having a broad understanding of the complex reality of time and were knowledgeable about their past to explain the social transformation they had to experience. It was the time of brilliant "self-taught, also known as the universal sages", before to spread and consolidate the field of specialties. These illustrious intellectuals, with their thought and work contributed to making important changes in their society and in the continent; several of them did not carry out university studies, they were the great self-taught, they earned the respect and admiration of many and left for their generation and posterity to write Works exceptional literary works that endured over time. Among these brilliant intellectuals of the American continent, Antonio José de Irisarri stands out, who From a critical perspective over time, he was a figure worthy of being known, interpreted and analyzed together with other academics, such as: Andrés Bello, José Cecilio del Valle, José Nariño and some strategists in the military field such as: Antonio José de Sucre, General José de San Martín, Simón Bolívar and others who contributed to the Spanish-American independence of the Spanish domain. Irisarri is defined as a conservative thinker, but his ideas corresponded to those of an authentic liberal, or of a more advanced thought for his time, for what was called by Menéndez Pelayo “The American Cervantes”.