Hernando Durán Dussán (

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 ...

, 1920 –

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, 4 September 1998) was a Colombian lawyer and politician. He was the

Mayor of Bogotá In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

and a candidate for the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

in 1990.

Biography

Durán Dussán was born in Bogotá in 1920, of Huilan ancestry. He attended secondary school at La Salle in Bogotá and also attended

Antonio Nariño College Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

before receiving his license to practice law from the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, ...

. In 1950, Durán Dussán participated in a political protest movement during the presidency of

Mariano Ospina Pérez Luis Mariano Ospina Pérez (24 November 1891 – 14 April 1976), commonly known as Mariano Ospina Pérez, was a Colombian politician and a member of the Colombian Conservative Party. He served as the List of Presidents of Colombia, 17th Pr ...

, for which he was sentenced to ten years in prison. He sought asylum in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

until a

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

seized control of the government in 1958 and granted him amnesty, enabling him to return to Colombia.

Political career

Durán Dussán served as the head of the Ministry of Housing under

Guillermo León Valencia Guillermo León Valencia Muñoz (27 April 1909 – 4 November 1971) was a Colombian politician, lawyer and diplomat who served as the 21st President of Colombia from 1962 to 1966. Personal life Valencia was born in Popayán, Cauca on April 2 ...

, the Ministry of Mines under

Alberto Lleras Camargo Alberto Lleras Camargo (3 July 1906 – 4 January 1990) was President of Colombia twice (1945-1946, 1958–1962), and the 1st Secretary General of the Organization of American States (1948–1954). A journalist and liberal party politician, he ...

, and the Ministry of Education under

Alfonso López Michelsen Alfonso López Michelsen (30 June 1913 – 11 July 2007) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the 24th President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was nicknamed "El Pollo" (The Chicken), a popular Colombian idiom for people with ...

. In the middle of the 1980s he became the president of the

Colombian Liberal Party The Colombian Liberal Party (; PLC) is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Socialist International in 1999. Th ...

. Durán was a staunch opponent of

Luis Carlos Galán Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento (29 September 1943 – 18 August 1989) was a Colombian liberal politician and journalist who ran for the Presidency of Colombia on two occasions, the first time for the political movement New Liberalism that he f ...

, the leader of the New Liberalism, and competed with him for the 1990 Liberal presidential nomination, but finished second to

César Gaviria César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo ( ; born 31 March 1947) is a Colombian economist and politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004 and National D ...

, who replaced Galán after the latter's assassination and won both the Liberal nomination and presidency. After his defeat, Durán retired, and became a supporter of

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...

Death

After his retirement from politics, Durán moved to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in order to visit his daughter Sonia, the wife of the Colombian ambassador to Malaysia. Durán died in Kuala Lumpur of a respiratory infection in 1998 at the age of 78. His remains were returned to Colombia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duran, Dussan, Hernando 1920 births 1998 deaths Ministers of finance and public credit of Colombia Ministers of national education of Colombia Ministers of mines and energy of Colombia Mayors of Bogotá Colombian Liberal Party politicians Politicians from Bogotá Colombian expatriates in the United States Colombian expatriates in France