Marco Fidel Suárez | |
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9th President of Colombia | |
In office August 10, 1918 – August 10, 1921 |
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Preceded by | José Vicente Concha |
Succeeded by | Jorge Holguín |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office August 7, 1926 – January 12, 1927 |
|
President | Miguel Abadía Méndez |
Preceded by | Eduardo Restrepo Sáenz |
Succeeded by | Carlos Uribe |
In office August 7, 1914 – October 30, 1917 |
|
President | José Vicente Concha |
Preceded by | Francisco José Urrutia |
Succeeded by | Emilio Ferrero |
In office March 10, 1891 – 1895 |
|
President |
Carlos Holguín (1891-1892) Miguel Antonio Caro (1892-1895) |
Preceded by | Antonio Roldán |
Succeeded by | José Maria Uricoechea |
Minister of Public Instruction | |
In office November 23, 1911 – February 12, 1912 |
|
President | Carlos Eugenio Restrepo |
Preceded by | José María González Valencia |
Succeeded by | Carlos Cuervo Márquez |
In office August 7, 1898 – July 31, 1900 |
|
President | Manuel Antonio Sanclemente |
Succeeded by | Miguel Abadía Méndez |
Personal details | |
Born |
Hatoviejo, Antioquia, Republic of New Granada |
April 23, 1855
Died | April 3, 1927 Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Colombia |
(aged 71)
Nationality | Colombian |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Isabel Orrantia y Borda |
Children | María Antonia and Gabriel |
Marco Fidel Suárez (April 23, 1855 – April 3, 1927) was a Colombian political figure. He served as president of Colombia from 1918 to 1921. He was born on April 23, 1855, in the town of Hatoviejo, Antioquia. His parents were Rosalía Suárez and José María Barrientos.
Suárez came from a very poor background, born in a two-room hut in Hatoviejo, today the town of Bello, Antioquia, adjacent to Medellín in the highland department of Antioquia. An illegitimate child at a time when official records always distinguished between "natural children" and "legitimate children" (and the former status was a disadvantage for life), his mother was a laundress; his wealthy father refused to recognize him or provide for him in any way. Since his mother was unable to pay for him to attend the local elementary public school, he stood at a window of the school in an effort to observe the lessons. After a time he began to yell out answers to the teacher's questions when the other pupils couldn't answer. Eventually, the teacher, suitably impressed, invited him to attend class without having to pay. Later on he joined a Catholic seminary but did not attain the priesthood as the seminary was closed.
Suárez studied his primary education in the public school of Hatoviejo. Later he studied in the seminary of the town of La Ceja, Antioquia. He then transferred to the Seminario Mayor de Medellín, where he studied philosophy, literature and theology for the priesthood. He stopped short of being ordained.
In the 1870s he participated in the civil conflict that took place in Antioquia, fighting on the side of Colonel Braulio Jaramillo, attaining a battlefield promotion to Lieutenant.
Suárez became a very well known and distinguished philologist, philosopher, poet, writer and teacher. Marco Fidel, along with Rufino José Cuervo and Miguel Antonio Caro, is considered one of the most important and influential scholars of the Spanish grammar in Colombia. His best literary work was “los Sueños de Luciano Pulgar” (1926).
As president, Suárez implemented the "North Star" policy which linked the foreign policy of Colombia with that of the United States of America.