Manuel Piar
Heritage and early life
Heritage and early life
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The son of Fernando Alonso Piar y Lottyn, a Spanish merchant seaman of Canarian origin . LA EMIGRACION Y SU TRASCENDENCIA EN LA HISTORIA DEL PUEBLO CANARIO (VIII) (THE Emigration AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN THE HISTORY of CANARY (VIII)) (Accessed on October 5, 2010 at 17:55 (VIII))(In Spanish) and María Isabel Gómez, a Dutch woman born to an Afro\-Venezuelan father and a Dutch mother in [Willemstad](/wiki/Willemstad "Willemstad"), [Curaçao](/wiki/Cura%C3%A7ao "Curaçao"), Piar grew up as a humble [mestizo](/wiki/Mestizo "Mestizo") subject to the discriminating limits imposed by the social norms of colonial times.

He arrived in Venezuela with his mother when he was ten years old and set up residence in [La Guaira](/wiki/La_Guaira "La Guaira"). Without formal schooling he acquired by himself a good level of general knowledge and taught himself several languages.

At the age of 23, he decided to join the independence effort and participated in the unsuccessful 1797 [Gual and España Conspiracy](/wiki/Gual_and_Espa%C3%B1a_Conspiracy "Gual and España Conspiracy").


What did Piar teach himself?