Maria Teresa del Toro Alayza (15 October 1781 – 22 January 1803) was the only wife of Simon Bolivar. She belonged to an upper-class Spanish family, and her relationship with Bolivar lasted for less than three years, ending when she died of yellow fever; Bolivar made good on his promise to never remarry.
Biography[]
Maria Teresa del Toro Alayza was born in Madrid, Spain in 1781, and she was deeply linked to Caracas society through her prominent family. She met Simon Bolivar in Madrid in 1800, and, in August of that year, they began to court each other. Bolivar followed Maria Teresa to Bilbao and then to Paris, and they married in 1802. On 12 July 1802, they moved to Bolivar's home province of Venezuela, and they settled in Caracas. After just eight months of marriage, Maria Teresa died of yellow fever and malaria at the age of 21.