The indigenous Venezuelans have influenced Venezuela’s rich, diverse, and complex cultures.
It was also influenced by the Spanish and Africans who arrived following the conquest of the country by the Spanish.
One of the famous Venezuelan people who is an artist, Francisco Arturo Michelena Castilli, has had an enormous impact on the world’s art scene.
The Central University of Venezuela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was created by Venezuelan architect Carlos Ral Villanueva. His native country is well noted for its exquisite structures and churches.
Musicians like Pedro Elias Gutierrez, Iván Pérez Rossi, and Rafael Bolvar Coronado have made indigenous music in the country prominent in recent years.
Many Venezuelan women have won international beauty pageants, such as Miss Universe and Miss World, making their country proud.
You may learn about notable Venezuelans’ lives and works in this area. The following is a list of famous Venezuelan people.
1. Simon Bolivar
On July 24, 1783, Simon Bolivar, one of the famous Venezuelan people, was born in Cartagena, Colombia.
He became known as El Libertador, or “The Liberator,” because of his role as a military leader, revolutionary, and political leader.
In his role, he helped the country gain independence from Spain.
He was able to free a significant area of South America despite severe challenges, lack of support, and funding.
Orphaned at the age of 12, he spent part of his inheritance traveling the world and witnessed Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation in Paris.
He was inspired to assist liberate Venezuela at that time because of the events on that day. Bolivar led the liberation of Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, and Colombia.
He was also elected as the first president of Greater Colombia in 1819 after a series of wins and failures.
Bolivar became Peru’s ruler the following year, in 1822. After liberating Peru as a whole in 1824, he brought an end to Spanish control in South America.
In honor of him, Bolivia was created as a distinct state and renamed in his honor.
Due to his aspiration to unite all of South America, Simon Bolivar grew in stature and influence.
However, his ambition could not be fully achieved due to the existence of separatist factions.
Bolivar died of tuberculosis in 1830, just a few months after resigning as president of Greater Colombia.
2. Ozzie Guillén
Oswaldo José “Ozzie” Guillén Barrios, a former Baseball player and manager, is one of the most famous Venezuelan people.
The Chicago White Sox was managed by him from 2004 to 2011, and he managed the Miami Marlins in 2012.
He was born in Ocumare Del Tuy, Venezuela, and played as a shortstop for the White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Major League Baseball.
He batted and threw with his opposite hand. Known for his passion, speed, grit, and tenacity on the field, Guillén was also known for his effervescent love of the game.
During the 2005 World Series, Guillen became the first Latino manager in major league history to win a championship game.
3. Martin Tovar y Tovar
Martin Tovar y Tovar, a Venezuelan painter of the 19th century, was born on February 10, 1827. The Battle of Junin, the Battle of Ayacucho, and the most renowned of them all, the Battle of Carabobo, occupied most of his most celebrated works.
Throughout his career, Tovar y Tovar participated in several exhibitions, displaying his work in many galleries and even helping to organize Venezuela’s first-ever art fair, Exposición Anual de Bellas Artes.
His portraits of important Venezuelans made him a favorite of the country’s president, Antonio Guzmán Blanco. On December 17, 1902, Tovar y Tovar died at the age of 75.
4. Greivis Vásquez
In the NBA, Greivis JosuéVásquezRodrguez of the Sacramento Kings is a Venezuelan professional basketball player.
Having played college basketball for the University of Maryland, the NBA picked him up in 2010. Having 2,171 career points, Vásquez was second all-time among Terrapins scorers.
Born in Caracas, he relocated to Rockville, Maryland, in 2004 to attend Montrose Christian School, where he finished high school.
When he was a senior at Montrose High School, he decided to play college football at the University of Maryland for head coach Gary Williams.
During the 2007 FIBA America Championships, Vásquez represented Venezuela with the national basketball team.
David Cubillan of the Marquette Golden Eagles and Gregory Echenique of Creighton Bluejays were the other two Venezuelans participating in NCAA Division I men’s basketball in the 2009–10 season.
5. Alejandro Chataing
Many of Caracas’ most notable landmarks were created by Alejandro Chataing. He was born February 24, 1873, in Caracas and died in 1931.
The Arch of the Federation at El Calvario was designed in collaboration with him and his teacher.
Villa Zoila, the presidential house of 37th president Cipriano Castro, was built in 1904 by the architect. El Paraiso was the location of the palace.
In 1904 and 1905, Chataing renovated the National Pantheon to Cipriano Castro’s designs and changed the façade.
He also changed the structure of the Military School of La Planicie and created the National Theater in the style of Antonio Guzman Blanco.
As a result of the many projects he completed when President CiprianoCasto was in office, he became known as “Cipriano’s architect.”
Macuto’s Miramar Hotel was one of his final projects. Sadly, Chataing passed away on that fateful day in 1928.
6. Nicolás Maduro
As the country’s current president, Nicolás Maduro Moros is one of the most famous Venezuelan people.
He served as Venezuela’s Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Hugo Chávez until being elected to the United States Senate in 2016.
After working as a bus driver, Maduro became a union leader before being elected to the National Assembly.
In 2006, he was named Venezuela’s Foreign Minister after serving in several posts in the government under Chávez.
He was referred to as Chávez’s “most skilled administrator and politician” during this period. Maduro inherited the presidency when Chávez’s death was announced on March 5, 2013.
A special presidential election was held on April 14 of that year, and he was inaugurated on April 19 as the candidate of the United Socialist Party.
7. Maritza Sayalero
Maritza Sayalero was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on February 16, 1961. Her triumph is the first Miss Universe crown to come from Venezuela.
Maritza earned the title of Miss Universe in 1979 after competing in the swimsuit, interview, and evening gown categories in the Miss Universe pageant in Perth, Australia.
A mob of photographers and journalists stormed the platform as soon as she was declared the winner, demanding such hard photos that the stage collapsed.
Maritza was able to save one contestant, but many others fell down the hole and were hurt.
Thanks to her victory, the Miss Venezuela pageant has become one of the world’s most renowned and competitive beauty contests.
She was also the inspiration for the names of several people, including children and even a ship. Maritza Ramirez married Mexican tennis star Raul Ramirez and had three children with him.
As a fashion designer, she has a store where she sells her designs. Irene Saez (1981), Barbara Palacios Teyde (1986), and Alicia Machado (1989) all won the Miss Universe crown for Venezuela (1996).
This year’s winners are Dayana Mendoza (2008) and Stefania Fernandez (2011), respectively (2009).
8. Rafael Trujillo
From 1930 until he died in 1961, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, known as El Jefe, ruled the Dominican Republic.
As an unelected military strongman, he ruled from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 until 1952, when he was officially elected president.
The Trujillo Era, which he ruled for 30 years, is remembered by Dominicans as one of the bloodiest in the Americas’ history.
It is also marked as a period marked by a typical personality cult, as seen by the plethora of monuments honoring Trujillo.
Estimates put the death toll during Trujillo’s dictatorial leadership at between 50,000 and 100,000, including as many as 20,000 to 30,000 in the notorious Parsley Massacre.
The Trujillo tyranny occurred in a region of Latin America with a long history of dictatorships.
The Trujillo dictatorship, however, has been viewed as the most violent, blatant, and ruthless of all the others before it. He is one of the most famous Venezuelan people in history.
9. Gustavo Cisneros
Gustavo A. CisneroRendiles, the Venezuelan media mogul, was born in 1945. His ancestors hail from Cuba.
With an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion in 2010, Cisneros is on Forbes Magazine’s list of the world’s wealthiest men.
His wealth is derived from assets in telecommunications, media and entertainment, and consumer product company holdings.
Venevision International, which makes and distributes popular telenovelas in Spanish, is owned by the Cisneros Group of Companies.
The Leoned del Caracas baseball club and the Miss Venezuela pageant are also under their control.
His company’s operations abroad include Spain, the United States, and China.
Programs for the development of visual arts education and the professional development of educators from Latin America are offered by the Cisneros Foundation.
10. José Luis Rodríguez González
José Luis Rodrguez González, better known as El Puma, was born on January 14, 1943, in Caracas.
He’s a Puerto Rican actor and musician who’s been in several telenovelas and the Spanish dub of Meet the Robinsons, among other things.
He grew up in poverty; his father died when he was six years old. His mother raised him, as well as his 11 other brothers and sisters.
During the period of Marcos Perez Jimenez, his mother became involved in the revolution, and they were exiled to Ecuador.
He was illiterate when he started, so he taught himself to read and focused on singing.
This led to multiple successes, including “Dueo de nada,” “Agárrense de las manos,” and “Pavo real.”
Using his El Puma identity and the slogan “Free the puma inside,” he appeared in a Wrigley’s Eclipse gum campaign. ‘Free the Puma in you,’ says the slogan in Spanish.
