Colegio Bernardo Valdivieso
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| Colegio Bernardo Valdivieso | |
|---|---|
Unidad Educativa Bernardo Valdivieso | |
| Location | |
 | |
Loja , Loja Province Ecuador | |
| Coordinates | 4°00′38″S 79°11′56″W / 4.01056°S 79.19889°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary school |
| Established | 1727 [a] |
| Campus | Urban |
Colegio Bernardo Valdivieso is a historic public secondary school in Loja, Ecuador. Press and scholarly accounts trace its antecedents to a Jesuit school created in 1727, interrupted by the 1767 expulsion of the Society of Jesus, and reorganized during the nineteenth century; it is therefore regarded as one of the oldest secondary schools in Ecuador.[1][2][3][4]
Educational activity in Loja is documented for the early eighteenth century. In 1727 the Jesuits established the Colegio de Loja; the school operated for roughly four decades until the order's expulsion in 1767, which led to closure of Jesuit institutions across the Spanish Empire.[1][5][6]
During the nineteenth century, local efforts to restore secondary education gained momentum. Lojano philanthropist Bernardo Valdivieso (1745–1805) earmarked assets to sustain schooling in the city; the present school later adopted his name in recognition of that bequest.[7] Accounts of Loja's civic and cultural life note mid-century initiatives such as the Colegio La Unión (organized in 1857), which form part of the lineage leading to today's institution.[3]
A local monograph compiles archival material on the school's evolution and its links with the subsequent creation (1859) of the National University of Loja.[4][8]
