Restrepo, Carlos Eugenio (1867–1947)

Carlos Eugenio Restrepo (b. 12 September 1867; d. 6 July 1947), president of Colombia (1910–1914). Born into a prestigious but poor family in Medellín, he studied law in his hometown. Restrepo began a bureaucratic career in his early twenties. His diligence and honesty brought him important posts. He served in the War of the Thousand Days, then returned home to the rectorship of the University of Antioquia (1901–1902). Later he became professor of constitutional law there. Elected as a Conservative to the Congress of 1909, Restrepo strongly opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Reyes. These personal and political credentials won him election to the presidency in 1910—the first Antioquian to hold the office for a full term. His term coincided with a boom in coffee exports that made possible expansion in educational and transportation infrastructure, legal codification, and pensions for schoolteachers. Colombia's territories were also reorganized, and the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty with the United States was negotiated in 1914. Restrepo's Unión Republicana, an effort at bipartisanship, ceased to exist after he left office. Back in Antioquia, he became a spokesperson for the region's interests and, in 1930, for the presidential candidacy of the Liberal Enrique Olaya Herrera. Restrepo served Olaya as minister of interior (1930) and as ambassador to the Holy See (1931–1934). He died in Medellín.

See alsoAntioquia; Colombia: Since Independence.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ivan Duque Escobar, Perfil y huella de Carlos E. Restrepo (1982).

Ignacio Arizmendi Posada, Presidentes de Colombia, 1810–1990 (1989), pp. 205-208.

Additional Bibliography

Brugman, Catalina. "El fracaso del republicanismo en Colombia, 1910–1914." Historia Crítica 21 (January-June 2001): 91-110.

                                 J. LeÓn Helguera