Barbarita Nieves

Barbarita Nieves (1803–14 December 1847) was the mistress of General José Antonio Páez since 1821, the year in which he separated from his wife, Dominga Ortiz.^[1]

Early life

Nieves was born in the Apure plains in 1803.

Mistress

She introduced culture to Paez's life, prompting him to learn other languages and supporting theater and painting. According to José Antonio Calcaño, she was one of the motivations for Paez to begin reading Lamartine, Rousseau and Cervantes. For more than 25 years the couple lived between Valencia, Maracay and Caracas. They had two daughters: Úrsula and Juana De Dios. The British diplomat Robert Ker Porter was a frequent visitor of La Viñeta, where the family resided. In his diary, he speaks of the house meetings, with music and where the daughters danced for visitors.

She died in Maracay on 14 December 1847. Nieves sickened in a critical moment for Páez, who had distanced himself from José Tadeo Monagas and was getting ready to confront him. Her death dramatically affected Páez, who referred to "the emptiness that her eternal absence has left" in a letter to his friend Carlos Arvelo.

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