Martin de Villamil, brother of the Ecuadorian independence hero José de Villamil, was born in New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana, in 1783, son of a trader and administrator (mayordomo) of the hospital of the city.
After that, Martin de Villamil and his family went to Europe: London, Paris, Italy (Bologna, Firenze).
In 1820-1822, he welcomed in his villa of Sèvres, near Paris, the great Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1853).
In 1830, Martin Villamil met in Paris the général Francisco de Paula Santander (1792-1840), hero of the independence of Great Colombia.
In Firenze, Madame Martin de Villamil, was a friend of Jérôme Bonaparte (brother of Napoléon Bonaparte), former king of Westphalia, who gave her the guard of his daughter, la princesse Mathilde, and of his house.