Zea, Francisco Antonio

Zea, Francisco Antonio (fränsēs'kō äntō'nyō sā'ä) [key], 1770–1882, Colombian botanist and revolutionist. He was associated with Mutis in botanical studies. Zea, like Antonio Nariño, was arrested (1795) for distributing copies of The Declaration of the Rights of Man and was for a time imprisoned in Spain. He returned to aid Bolívar in the liberation of South America. After becoming (1819) vice president of Venezuela, he resigned and accepted the presidency of the Congress of Angostura (see Ciudad Bolívar) and was later vice president of Greater Colombia. Appointed special diplomatic agent to Europe, he was not highly successful; he negotiated disadvantageous loans and gained recognition of his country only from the United States. He died in Bath, England. Zea wrote a history of Colombia and works on botany.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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