Guillermo Tell Villegas

Guillermo Tell Villegas (1 January 1823 – 21 March 1907) was a Venezuelan politician, lawyer, and writer. Among other government positions, he served as interim president of Venezuela in 1868, 1870 and 1892. Starting his career in law, he became governor of Barinas in 1859 His tenure lasted until 20 February 1869, when he was followed by José Ruperto Monagas.

While Monagas was campaigning in February 1869, as the designated second in the Republic of Venezuela, Villegas again took the role of interim president. While during this short term, he officially honored the mortal remains of General Ezequiel Zamora, and also arranged the repatriation of the remains of Jose Maria Vargas, which had been in New York. He published a book on Spanish grammar in 1884, and in 1887 published a book on Spanish homophones. Moving from politics to education, he published the first Venezuelan popular instruction book on literature, science, and fine arts in 1895, regarded as one of his most important works. On 6 October 1901, he was named as a new member of the , although the membership couldn't be put into effect due to Villegas' advanced age.

Death Villegas died in his hometown of Valencia on 21 March 1907, circa the age of 84.