BELLO, ANDRES (1781-1865), South American poet and scholar, was born at Caracas, Venezuela, on Nov. 29, After having been associated with the revolutionary movement against Spain, in 1810 he was sent on a political mission to London, where he resided for 19 years, acting as secretary to the legations of Chile, Colombia and Venezuela, spending his free time in study, teaching and journalism. In 1829 he accepted a post in the Chilean treasury, settled at Santiago and took a prominent part in the intellectual life of the city, particularly in founding the national university (1843), of which he became rector. He was nominated senator, and died at Santiago de Chile on Oct. 15, 1865. Bello was mainly responsible for the civil code promulgated in 1855. His prose works deal with such varied subjects as law, philosophy, literary criticism and philology; of these the most important is his Gramdtica castellana (1847), the leading authority on the subject. But his position in literature proper is secured by his Silvas Americanas, a poem written during his residence in England, which conveys with extraordinary force the majestic impression of the South American landscape.
Bello's complete works were issued in 15 volumes by the Chilean Government (Santiago de Chile, 1881-93) ; he is the subject of an excellent biography by Miguel Luis Ammunategui (Santiago de Chile, 1882).