Jorge eliecer gaitan biography define

Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (b. 23 January 1898; d. 9 April 1948), Colombian political leader. The man who was widely expected to accede to the presidency of Colombia in 1950 was walking out of his law office in downtown Bogotá with a group of friends at 1:05 p.m.

on Friday, 9 April 1948, when he was fatally wounded by a lonely drifter.

Jorge eliecer gaitan biography define

In life Jorge Eliécer Gaitán commanded the attention of his compatriots through fear-inspiring oratory and masterful political performances. In death he incited uprisings in Bogotá and other cities by passionate followers desperate to bring about quick political change.

In part because he died before rising formally to power, Gaitán's legacy is uncertain.

Some are convinced that he was a careful man with a profound sense of equanimity who would have brought peace to Colombia. Others describe him as an inveterate rabble-rouser who would have turned La Violencia bloodier still had he lived.

The scholar Richard Sharples