Friday, October 30, 2015

How Lord Byron Went to Ecuador

Erecting monuments to honor famous people is often motivated to beautify the urban setting, to express concretely certain civic aspirations, and to provide an edifying model for citizens to emulate. Thus, kings, statesmen, soldiers, and civic benefactors are subjects so honored.

Guayaquil, Ecuador desired to honor the Ecuadorian leader and poet, José Olmedo. After all, he was mayor of Guayaquil twice and was President of Ecuador in 1845. He was also an accomplished poet; having written many patriotic poems.

The only trouble was, having a statue of Olmedo would cost more than the community could afford.

So they thought, "No way, José! What the heck! We'll get a pre-owned one of somebody or other we can afford. Anyway, who remembers what he looked like!"

And so, a statue of George Gordon, Lord Byron was placed in Guayaquil by these thrifty citizens and duly labeled José Olmedo.

Byron subbing for Olmedo


José Olmedo


 
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10 comments:

  1. AnemoneOctober 30, 2015 at 9:27 AM

    That's pragmatism at its finest!

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  2. MikeOctober 30, 2015 at 11:16 AM

    I sure wouldn't know the difference.

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  3. Linda KayOctober 30, 2015 at 1:33 PM

    If you hadn't exposed them, who would have known? Have a great weekend.

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  4. TexWisGirlOctober 30, 2015 at 4:26 PM

    hey, they say everyone has a 'twin' somewhere.

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  5. CloudiaOctober 30, 2015 at 5:09 PM

    What a delightful tit bit, Angel!

    Sunday is my big day! Come by for the reveal if you can, Dear










    ALOHA, Friend
    ComfortSpiral

    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_('')







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  6. Rammer Jammer Yellow HammerOctober 30, 2015 at 6:42 PM

    We could sell off that statue of General Sherman!
    G

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  7. John A HillOctober 30, 2015 at 11:15 PM

    Very interesting, Angel!

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  8. allenwoodhavenOctober 31, 2015 at 12:00 AM

    Great! Love the new trivia fact.

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  9. BilboOctober 31, 2015 at 6:00 AM

    If the GOP hears about this, we'll soon see every statue of a liberal figure being replaced with a statue of Ronald Reagan!

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  10. Sheilagh StonesDecember 16, 2019 at 6:15 AM

    The article about the Byron statue representing Jose Olmedo appeared in THE BOOK OF LISTS by The People's Almanac first printed 1977.

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