Alfonso López Michelsen | |
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President López in 1977.
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24th President of Colombia | |
In office 7 August 1974 – 7 August 1978 |
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Preceded by | Misael Pastrana Borrero |
Succeeded by | Julio César Turbay Ayala |
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia | |
In office 14 August 1968 – 7 August 1970 |
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President | Carlos Lleras Restrepo |
Preceded by | Germán Zea Hernández |
Succeeded by | Alfredo Vázquez Carrizosa |
1st Governor of Cesar | |
In office 21 December 1967 – 14 August 1968 |
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President | Carlos Lleras Restrepo |
Succeeded by | Luis Roberto García Díaz-Granados |
Personal details | |
Born |
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia |
30 June 1913
Died | 11 July 2007 Bogotá, D.C., Colombia |
(aged 94)
Resting place | Central Cemetery of Bogotá |
Nationality | Colombian |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse(s) | Cecilia Caballero Blanco (1938–2007) |
Relations | Alfonso López Pumarejo (father) |
Children |
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Alma mater | Our Lady of the Rosary University (JD, 1937) |
Profession | Lawyer |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Alfonso López Michelsen (30 June 1913 – 11 July 2007) was the 24th President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978.
López was the son of former two time president of Colombia, Alfonso López Pumarejo. He was born and raised in Bogotá. He studied at the Gimnasio Moderno School and later in other cities; Paris, Brussels, London and Santiago de Chile. He graduated with a degree in law from the Universidad del Rosario.
During his father's presidency, López maintained a low profile in politics and instead focused on becoming a university professor at the Universidad del Rosario. [1]
In 1938, López married Cecilia Caballero Blanco in Bogotá. They moved to the outskirts of Bogotá in a hacienda in the then municipality of Engativá, Cundinamarca Department (nowadays a Locality of Bogotá). Settled in this town, López had his first experience with politics becoming a town councilman. During this time, his fellow councilmen included Álvaro Gómez Hurtado and Julio César Turbay Ayala
In 1959, a group of his former students founded the Liberal Revolutionary Movement (MRL) as a reaction to the pact between his party, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party to create the National Front. Lopez Michelsen was then offered the leadership of the newly created MRL and he accepted becoming a presidential candidate for the 1962 presidential elections. López lost the election by a large margin to Conservative candidate Guillermo León Valencia.