Daniel Samper Pizano (born 8 June 1945) is a Colombian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and prolific writer.

Career

Samper attended the

Gimnasio Moderno The Gimnasio Moderno is a private mixed gender elite-traditional and liberal, primary and secondary school located in Bogotá, Colombia. It was founded in 1914 by Colombians following the leading initiative of Agustín Nieto Caballero. Ideals ...

, where he began writing in the student newspaper ''El Aguilucho''. At the age of 19 he worked for the Colombian newspaper '' El Tiempo'' as a reporter. After graduating from high school, Samper studied law in the

Pontifical Xavierian University The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (English: Xavierian Pontifical University) is a private university in Colombia founded in 1623. It is one of the oldest and most traditional Colombian universities, directed by the Society of Jesus, with its ...

and later attended graduate school for journalism at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, United States. He was also awarded the

Nieman Fellowship The Nieman Fellowship is a fellowship from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. It awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists The Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Since then he has been an editor, columnist and author of some 38 books, TV and movie screenwriter and winner of numerous recognitions and awards in Colombia and abroad; Among these, the

Maria Moors Cabot prize The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes are the oldest international awards in the field of journalism. They are presented each fall by the Trustees of Columbia University to journalists in the Western hemisphere who are viewed as having made a significant c ...

awarded by

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, the "Rey de España" prize and has won the Colombian "Simón Bolívar Prize for Journalism" three times. His writings are notable for his wide-ranging and soft sense of humor, combined with a degree of social criticism. He writes a column for El Tiempo, entitled "Cambalache" (colloquialism meaning "Exchange") and the magazine ''

Carrusel ''Carrusel'' () is a Mexican Child, children's telenovela produced by Valentín Pimstein for Televisa in 1989. It is based on the Argentina, Argentinean character :es:Jacinta Pichimahuida, Jacinta Pichimahuida (first televised in 1966), and produ ...

'' with a humor section called "Postre de notas", as well as various articles for Colombian magazines such as ''

El Malpensante ''El Malpensante'' () is a Colombian literary magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, short stories, graphic art and poetry founded in 1996. Its founders were Andrés Hoyos Restrepo and Mario Jursich Durán. The ...

'', ''

Revista Semana ''Semana'' (Spanish: ''Week'') is a weekly magazine in Colombia. History ''Semana'' was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo (who would become president of Colombia in 1958) and that folded in 1961. It was relaunched by journalist in 1 ...

'' and ''

Gatopardo ''Gatopardo'' () is a Mexican monthly news magazine focusing feature stories and Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle from a Latin-American perspective. The magazine was founded and first published in Colombia. It had from the beginning an international ...

''. In Colombia, Samper is also considered the father of Colombian

investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

for his work as a reporter with the El Tiempo newspaper. Since 1986 Samper has resided in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

; he was an editor of the Spanish magazine ''

Cambio 16 ''Cambio 16'' is a Spanish language monthly current affairs magazine published in Madrid, Spain, by "Group 16". History and profile ''Cambio 16'' was first published as a weekly in September 1971, and founded by the Spanish journalist Juan Tom� ...

''. He is also a member of the

Academia Colombiana de la Lengua The Academia Colombiana de la Lengua (Spanish for ''Colombian Academy of Language'') is an association of academics and experts on the use of the Spanish language in Colombia. It is based in Bogotá, Colombia's capital, and is a member of the As ...

. As a TV screenwriter, he wrote scripts for the Colombian TV series ''

Dejémonos de vainas Dejémonos de vainas is a Colombian sitcom, created by Daniel Samper Pizano and broadcast weekly between 1983 and 1998. Bernardo Romero Pereiro scripted and directed some episodes. The show, which depicted a "typical" middle-class family in Bogot ...

'' during the 1980s and 1990s.

Personal life

Daniel was born in Bogotá on 8 June 1945 to Andrés Samper Gnecco and Helena Pizano Pardo, the eldest of five children, his other siblings were,

Ernesto Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...

, José Gabriel, Juan Francisco, and María Fernanda. He married Cecilia Ospina Cuéllar, with whom he had three children, Juanita, María Angélica, and

Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

. He later divorced and married Pilar Tafur in 1974.

Selected works

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Daniel Samper's column in El Tiempo: "Cambalache"

* ttp://www.eltiempo.com/carrusel/ Página de la revista Carrusel donde se puede leer la columna semanal de humor del Daniel Samper {{DEFAULTSORT:Samper Pizano, Daniel 1945 births Living people People from Bogotá

Colombian male writers Colombian journalists Colombian male journalists Maria Moors Cabot Prize winners University of Kansas alumni Nieman Fellows Pontificia Universidad Javeriana alumni