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Margot Boulton de Bottome Founder of CVA |
CVA circa 1956 |
Thousand of students have learned English or Spanish at CVA |
CVA Today. |
CENTRO VENEZOLANO AMERICANO
About CVA
In 1939 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced his "Good Neighbor Policy" which imprinted a new dimension to the United States Foreign Policy towards Latin America. Inspired by these news, Margot Boulton de Bottome -a distinguished lady from the Venezuelan society- put together the idea of a Cultural Center dedicated to the promotion of Venezuelan-American relations at a non-governmental level, emphasizing educational and cultural issues from both cultures.
With the assistance of Elisa Elvira Zuloaga and Yvonne de Klemprer, Mrs. Boulton´s idea led to the creation of the "Venezuelan American Cultural Information Center" on July 4th., 1941. The Center´s first site was a colonial mansion located in downtown Caracas.
The first step in order to understand a foreign culture is getting to know its language, so the Center launched its very own English Language Teaching program, with one single teacher (Ms. Amelia Rincones Baldó), forty students and scarce resources. A generous donation of books received from Nelson Rockefeller allowed the newly created center to open a Library facility.
Multiple cultural activities were carried out such as lectures, conferences, movie projections, etc. Iintellectuals, writers and artists of that time used to get together at the Center for fruitful exchanges with their peers and general public.
The English Language Program rapidly expanded and in a short time the CVA positioned itself as an obliged reference for cultural and educational matters in Caracas.
On July 4th., 2005, the Center founded by Mrs. Boulton arrived to its sixty fourth anniversary. From its humble beginnings, CVA has gone through a long process of growth and transformation. Today CVA is recognized as a leader institution in the field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language and Spanish as a Second Language. Also as an active supporter of cultural exchanges between Venezuela and the United States of America.
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Margot Boulton de Bottome Founder of CVA |
CVA circa 1956 |
Thousand of students have learned English or Spanish at CVA |
CVA Today. |
Key characters of the 20th. century have visited CVA since its foundation in 1941:
Eleanor Roosevelt
First Lady of the U.S. 1933-1945
Archibald McLeish
Poet and Playwright. Pulitzer Prize recipient 1932, 1952 and 1959
Igor Stravinsky
Russian composer-director
William Faulkner
American writer Literature Nobel Prize 1949. Pulitzer Prize recipient 1963
John Updike
American Writer Pulitzer Prize recipient 1982, 1991
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Polish-American writer. Literature Nobel Prize 1978
John Cheever
American writer Pulitzer Prize recipient 1979
William Styron
American writer, Pulitzer Prize 1968
Edward Albee
American Playwright, Pulitzer Prize recipient 1967, 1975 and 1994.
Copyright © 2006 Centro Venezolano Americano. Reservados todos los derechos.
Avenida Principal de Las Mercedes, Edificio Centro Venezolano Americano (frente al C.C. Cada). Municipio Baruta. Caracas, Venezuela
Tlf:
(0212) 993.79.11 Fax: (0212)
9936812 Correo electrónico: infocva@cva.org.ve
Revised: 22 de November de 2007 Webmaster
