Pedro Justo Berrío was a Colombian lawyer, soldier, and politician. He held several legislative positions throughout his life, including

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Anitioquia from 1864 to 1873. He was born in the municipality of

Santa Rosa de Osos Santa Rosa de Osos is a middle city and Municipalities of Colombia, municipality of Colombia located in the Northern Antioquia, northern of the Departments of Colombia, department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. Bounded on the north with the ...

of Antioquia Province (of

Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...

) in 1827, and died in the city of Medellín, the capital of the Sovereign State of Antioquia in 1875. Several places in Antioquia are named after him, including Berrío Park, a plaza in the center of

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

Puerto Berrío Puerto Berrío is a municipality and town in the Colombian department of Antioquia. It is part of the Magdalena Medio Antioquia sub-region. Geography Puerto Berrío is located in a region of Antioquia known as the Middle Magdalena (near the Mag ...

, and the

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

Pedro Justo Berrio School.

Early life

He was the son of Lorenzo Berrio Hernández, a trader and educator in Santa Rosa de Osos, and Juliana Rojas. He studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, philosophy, and law in the San Fernando

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

in the city of Santa Fe of Antioquia. In 1851, he graduated as a lawyer in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, a city which saw the formation of the Liberal and Conservative parties. He adhered toward the principles of the latter. In 1858, he married Estefanía Díaz, with whom he had 6 children.

Governor of Antioquia

Pedro Justo Berrío became governor after his liberal predecessor was overthrown.

Manuel Murillo Toro Manuel Murillo Toro (January 1, 1816–December 26, 1880) was a Colombian statesman who served as President of the United States of Colombia (present day Colombia) on two occasions, first from 1864 to 1866, and again between 1872 and 1874.A ...

, who was a liberal and at the time was also President of the United States of Colombia, accepted this action as ''

fait accompli Many words in the English vocabulary are of French language, French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman conquest of England, Norman ...

'', setting a precedent for self-determination in the federated states. In 1864, his first administration had the slogan, "peace, roads, and schools". As such, he passed laws that made

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

compulsory. He helped connect Antioquia to other parts of the country through the

Antioquia Railway The Antioquia Railway () is a historic railway system in Colombia of freight train, freight and passenger trains that joined much of the central regions of the Antioquia department along the Magdalena river, and ultimately extended to provinces ...

starting in 1874. There is a plaque acknowledging his role in the railway construction outside the ''La Quebrada'' tunnel, which the trains used to pass through.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berrio, Pedro Justo Colombian governors Governors of Antioquia Department People from the Republic of New Granada 1827 births 1875 deaths