José María Vargas: Standard of Medicine in Venezuela (+Birth)

On March 10, 1786, José María Vargas, a prominent Venezuelan doctor, was born. He was the first rector of the University of Caracas (now UCV) and the first civil president of the Republic.

Graduated in medicine in 1808, he began his professional practice in the city of Cumaná. While in La Guaira during the earthquake of 1812 in which some 3,000 people died, he stood out for his dedication, organizational capacity and expertise as a surgeon. Back in Cumaná, he resumed his medical practice and activity as a member of the city's Supreme Legislative Council, when he was arrested and sent to the vaults of La Guaira, and was released in 1813.

Aware of the precarious medical training he was able to obtain in Venezuela, when he was released, he embarked for Europe at the end of 1813 to study medicine again in Edinburgh, Scotland. He obtains honorary certifications in Anatomy, Surgery, Eye Surgery, Dental Surgery and Obstetrics, as well as in Chemistry and Botany, and is dedicated to Mineralogy.

In London, he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. He consolidates his training as a scientist and doctor in France. He returned to America in 1819 and settled in Puerto Rico, where because of the war, his mother and brothers took refuge. The island also stands out for its medical and scientific activities.

He returned to Venezuela in 1825 and joined the University of Caracas. It modernizes medical studies with research methodologies, teaches anatomy with the dissection of cadavers and teaches the use of forceps and microscopes. He stands out so much in his innovative and progressive spirit as a doctor, teacher and researcher, that he was elected rector in 1827.

Vargas was the great reformer of the University, of a University for development and independence. It renews subjects, contents, and methodologies. He creates new chairs, such as Chemistry and Botany.

In 1827 he founded the Medical Society of Caracas, where scientific meetings and discussions began. He concluded his rectorate in 1829, refused to be re-elected and dedicated himself fully to his medical, scientific and educational activities, founding the Chair of Surgery in 1832.

At the same time he is engaged in political activity. With liberal thinking, in 1829 he founded the Economic Society of Friends of the Country, a private organization aimed at studying and proposing answers for the production of goods that improve the development and growth of the nation. She is part of the Constituent Congress of 1830, and is one of the three executors of Simon Bolivar's will.

His reputation as a tempered and assertive man in the humanistic and technical spheres, made him the main candidate for the second presidential term of 1835-1839. After the War of Independence, there was a great deal of distrust towards the multitude of soldiers and warlords with political ambitions and power. Vargas represented impartiality in the face of the struggles of military factions.

José María Vargas finally gives in to repeated pressure and is elected president of Venezuela with 60% of the votes among eight candidates, being confirmed by Congress almost unanimously.

He took office on February 9, 1835.

Pedro Carujo, one of the nefarious characters in our history, surrounds him in his house and tries to convince him of the imminent victory of the uprising and of the useless attitude of not resigning before the Congress that appointed him, shouting the crazy phrase: “Doctor Vargas, the world belongs to the brave”, as if the imprecation of an armed person to an unarmed one did not constitute cowardice. The wise man's answer has been inserted in those who profess the republican values of a just civil society, of free and educated men and women: “The world belongs to a just and honest man”.

In commemoration of the birth of Dr. José María Vargas, Doctor's Day is celebrated in Venezuela.

Mazo News Team