EUGENIO DE SANTA CRUZ Y ESPEJO

Although Espejo was a medical enthusiast, writer and lawyer of mestizo origin, he is best known for his work as a polemicist who inspired the separatist movement in Quito. He was Quito’s first journalist and hygienist – spreading both libertarian ideas and treatises on sanitary conditions in colonial Ecuador, encouraging cleanliness as a means to prevent disease. He was also known as a satirist - inspired primarily by the Enlightenment - and critical of the Royal Audience of Quito, corruption and aspects of Quito’s culture he found discriminatory, in general, which cause him to be persecuted and imprisoned before his death. Espejo is considered a revolutionary thinker prior to the independence movement in Quito. He insisted on emancipation not only in Quito, but also in the rest of Latin America. As publisher of Quito’s first newspaper, he is the founder of Ecuadorian journalism. As a philosopher, his ideas have transcended generations and made him a notable influence in the Ecuadorian educational system.

Back

Updated: 9 April 2008