Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (Villa del Rosario de Cúcuta, Colombia, April 2, 1792 – Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, May 6, 1840), was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independence war of the United Provinces of New Granada (present-day Colombia). He was the acting President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and later elected by Congress as the President of the Republic of New Granada between 1832 and...
More
Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (Villa del Rosario de Cúcuta, Colombia, April 2, 1792 – Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, May 6, 1840), was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independence war of the United Provinces of New Granada (present-day Colombia). He was the acting President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and later elected by Congress as the President of the Republic of New Granada between 1832 and 1837. Santander came to be known as "The Man of the Laws" ("El Hombre de las Leyes").
Santander was born in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, on April 2, 1792. He died in Santa Fe de Bogotá, Cundinamarca, on March 6, 1840.
A law student, he began his military career at the young age of eighteen, following the establishment of juntas in 1810, which began the process of independence in New Granada. Santander enlists in the revolutionary army in October 1810, in the battalion the National Guard ("Guardias Nacionales"). He first served as a soldier in...
Less
