Camilo Henríquez

[1] He was also one of the most important early South American newspaper writers and wrote several essays, most notably the Proclama de Quirino Lemachez, which promoted Chilean independence and liberty.

Henríquez was born in a house that belonged to his grandmother Margarita de Castro, located on what is now Yungay street in the city of Valdivia, Chile.

While in Lima, he was educated at a convent of his uncle's Order (usually referred to as simply the "Buena Muerte"), where, notably, he was taught by Friar Isidoro de Celis, an author of works on logic, mathematics, and physics, and a strong proponent of science, rationality, and humanism.

There he befriended José Cavero y Salazar, a fellow student, who would later become a prominent member of the first independent government of Peru and ambassador to Chile; throughout his stay in Lima, Henríquez frequented literary circles, associating with local socialites.

Miguel Luis Amunátegui notes that Henríquez was always secretive about the reasons for his incarceration, and that claims about it made by historians are speculative in nature.

[6] Henríquez had been heavily influenced by French Enlightenment philosophy in his early life, and he began to read literature that had previously been banned by the Spanish government.

While in Lima, Henríquez, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract and Louis-Sébastien Mercier's L'An 2440, rêve s'il en fut .

[7] During this period, in which Henríquez was serving as a senator, he produced the drama "La Procesión de los Tontos" (The Procession of the Fools").

He opened the first issue with "We now have in our possession the great and prescient instrument of universal enlightenment, the printing press...After the sad and insufferable silence of three centuries—centuries of infamy and lamentation !—the voice of reason and truth will be heard amongst us..."[9]Henríquez described himself as an educator and philosopher, and his publications frequently reflected revolutionary political ideals and Enlightenment notions, especially Rousseauian, of freedom and liberty.

Ironically, Tomás de Figueroa's (the leader of the revolt) only allowance before his execution the next day was receiving the Sacrament of Confession from the local priest, Henríquez himself.

During this time, Henríquez was a part of the nine-member senado conservador (conservative senate) created to advise the new Supreme Director of Chile, Ramón Freire.