Alejandro Galvis Galvis (13 February 1891 – 17 June 1981) was a Colombian publisher and politician. He graduated the law school of the Universidad Republicana de

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

. From 1914 on he worked as journalist for the newspapers ''Juventud Liberal'' and ''El Progreso''. In 1919 he founded the newspaper ''

Vanguardia Liberal ''Vanguardia'' ( en, Vanguard), formerly ''Vanguardia Liberal'', is a Colombian regional newspaper, founded in September 1919 in Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucarama ...

'' which is the leading newspaper of the Santander region of Colombia. Besides his interest as publisher he dedicated his work to politics. He served Colombia as president of the house of representatives, president of the senate, governor of the Department of Santander in 1931 and 1932 and as

secretary of defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 1942 to 1943. Apart from these activities he was ambassador of Colombia in Mexico, Venezuela and Spain.

Career

He was designated

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

of the

Republic of Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Ca ...

to the United States of Mexico on 11 March 1936 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Alfonso López Pumarejo Alfonso López Pumarejo (31 January 1886 – 20 November 1959) was a Colombian political figure, who twice served as President of Colombia, as a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. He served as President of Colombia for the first time between ...

. He arrived in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

on 20 June of the same year to assume his official duties replacing Fabio Lozano Torrijos, and officially presented his

letters of credence A letter of credence (french: Lettre de créance) is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to anot ...

later that year to the

President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the C ...

Lázaro Cárdenas del Río Lázaro is a Spanish or Portuguese-based given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Lázaro (footballer, born 1990), full name Lázaro Vinícius Alves Martins, Brazilian footballer *Lázaro (footballer, born 2002), ful ...

on 18 August.

Personal life

Born on 13 February 1891 in

Curití Curiti is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in North-Eastern Colombia. The area is famous for crafts made from fique, or agave sisal. Curiti is the birthplace of Alejandro Galvis Galvis Alejandro Galvis Galvis (13 February ...

, Santander, he was the youngest child of Jesús Galvis Arena and Hortencia Galvis Galvis, his siblings were Guillermo, Rodolfo and Leopoldo, and shortly after his birth, his mother died of cancer. While serving as diplomat in Mexico he met Tina Galvis Baroni, a Cuban lady of Italian descent whom he married in March 1938 in

, but who died later that year on 7 December 1938 after giving birth to their daughter Tina. Back in Colombia, he married Alicia Ramírez Navas on 18 January 1941 in Curití, and with whom he had four children, Hortensia, Alejandro, Silvia, and Virgilio.

References

* ''Maravillosa Colombia'', Circulo de Lectores, Barcelona, 1980,

External links

History of the Vanguardia Liberal newspaper (Spanish)El Espectador 13 June 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galvis Galvis, Alejandro 1891 births 1981 deaths People from Curití Free University of Colombia alumni 20th-century Colombian lawyers Colombian journalists Male journalists Ambassadors of Colombia to Mexico Ambassadors of Colombia to Spain Colombian Ministers of War Governors of Santander Department Colombian newspaper founders 20th-century journalists