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Francisco de Paula Santander

Francisco de Paula Santander
Santander by Acevedo Bernal.jpg
Oil painting by Ricardo Acevedo Bernal.
4th President of the Republic of the New Granada
In office
October 7, 1832 – April 1, 1837
Preceded by José Ignacio de Márquez
Succeeded by José Ignacio de Márquez
2nd Vice President of the Republic of Colombia
In office
November 3, 1821 – September 19, 1827
President Simón Bolívar
Preceded by Francisco Antonio Zea
Succeeded by Juan German Roscio
Personal details
Born Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña
(1792-04-02)2 April 1792
Cúcuta, Norte de Santander Viceroyalty of New Granada (present-day Colombia)
Died 6 March 1840(1840-03-06) (aged 47)
Santa Fe de Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Republic of New Granada (present-day Colombia)
Nationality Neogranadine
Political party Federalist
Spouse(s) Sixta Tulia Pontón y Piedrahita
Children Francisco de Paula Jesús Bartolomé
Alma mater Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé
Religion Roman Catholic

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. His parents were Juan Agustín Santander Colmenares who was governor of the rural province of San Faustino de los Ríos as well as a cocoa grower, and his mother; Manuela Antonia de Omaña Rodríguez, both were descendants of Spanish families who had settled in the kingdom of Nueva Granada. He died due to gallstones 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 army of the federalist United Provinces of New Granada, under the command of General Antonio Baraya, that fought against General Antonio Nariño, of the Province of Cundinamarca, who had refused to recognize the authority of the Union. During these campaigns Santander achieved the rank of colonel in 1812. After the royalist forces re-conquered New Granada, Santander like many other New Granadan officers retreated to the plains east of the Cordillera Oriental, the Llanos, near the modern Venezuelan border. There, Santander joined forces with Venezuelan patriots and operated under the command of Simón Bolívar. During the military campaign across the Andes, Bolívar promoted Santander to Brigadier General in 1817.


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