Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza

He was born on 15 April 1750 in Chachapoyas, while José Antonio Manso de Velasco, count of Superunda, was governing the Viceroyalty of Peru.

He stood out as a brilliant student and in 1770 he obtained the degree of Doctor in Theology in the National University of San Marcos in Lima.

His parents, Santiago Rodríguez and Josefa Collantes, were wealthy owners of a noble house in the main square of Chachapoyas.

He was entrusted with the vice-chancellor of the Convictorio Carolino and one year later, in 1786, the viceroy Teodoro de Croix made him chancellor of this center of studies.

He rebuilt the college buildings, today University of San Marcos, and put into practice new education plans.

Despite his consecration to form a leading class, he also worried about popular education, trusting that the language unit would be the way to achieve racial equality.

In 1814, his disciples and friends founded the Sociedad Filantrópica (Philanthropic Society) to spread the ideals of the American Revolution with clear anti-monarchist tendency.

At the arrival of the Expedición Libertadora of San Martin, his illnesses did not prevent him from leaving his retirement and join the orders of the liberating government.