Preceded by Office established* Succeeded by Miguel Antonio Caro | Succeeded by Office abolished* Name Rafael Nunez | |
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Vice President Miguel Antonio Caro (1892–1894)
Eliseo Payan Hurtado (1886–1892) Preceded by Jose Eusebio Otalora Martinez Preceded by Julian Trujillo Largacha Role Former President of Colombia Died September 18, 1894, Cartagena, Colombia Spouse Maria de los Dolores Gallegos Martinez Education University of Cartagena (1845), University of Cartagena (1843) Parents Francisco Nunez Garcia, Dolores Garcia Moledo Presidential terms February 8, 1888 – August 7, 1888 Similar People Oreste Sindici, Miguel Antonio Caro, Mariano Ospina Rodriguez, Jose Eusebio Caro | ||
Rafael Wenceslao Núñez Moledo (September 28, 1825 – September 18, 1894) was a Colombian author, lawyer, journalist and politician, who was elected president of Colombia in 1880 and in 1884.
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Early life
Núñez was the first of three children of cousins Dolores García Moledo and Colonel Francisco Núñez García, who were married on October 6, 1824. At 15, he was accepted by General Francisco Carmona in the rebel troops to fight in the War of the Supremes.
Little is known about the early years of Núñez, but he certainly served as a Circuit Judge in Chiriquí, Panama in 1848.
Political career
In 1848, Núñez founded in Cartagena, Colombia, the newspaper La Democracia, with the intention of promoting the presidential election of General José María Obando as a successor to José Hilario López. The same year, he was appointed as Chief of Staff in Cartagena's government, thus beginning his political life.
In 1853, he was elected to the Colombian Congress. In 1854 he was elected as governor of the department of Bolívar. Between 1855 and 1857, during the government of Manuel María Mallarino, he served as Minister of the Treasury and Minister of War.
In 1855, he published his first volume of political essays, under the name of La Federación. Later, under the government of Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, he served as Minister of the Treasury.
After representing Colombia in the Ríonegro Treaty, he travelled abroad. He first lived in New York City for two years. Then, he represented Colombia as a diplomat in Le Havre; later, he was appointed as the Colombian Consul in Liverpool.
He returned to Colombia in 1876 at the center of a political fight. He had been nominated as a candidate for the presidency that year/but did not win the election. Four years later, he was elected President of Colombia for the 1880-1882 presidential term. Again, in 1884, he was re-elected President of Colombia with the support of the Conservative Party.
He was the force behind La Regeneración (Regeneration) movement of 1884 and the new Constitution for Colombia of 1886.
The constitutional reform of 1886, carried out with the collaboration of Miguel Antonio Caro, was possibly the most outstanding political performance of Núñez. This constitution, with some later modifications, was in effect until the proclamation of a new one in 1991.
From 1878 to 1888, he wrote hundreds of influential articles related to the constitutional reform for the newspapers La Luz and La Nación of Bogota, and 'El Porvenir' and El Impulso of Cartagena. He also wrote the lyrics for the Colombian national anthem.
He was again re-elected to be President of Colombia in 1886 and in 1892 but did not take office for his last term. Rather, his vice-president, Miguel Antonio Caro was sworn in as president for the presidential tern of 1892-1898.
Legacy
In his first administration, Núñez restores peace and order. He allowed the Catholic bishops, who were in exile, to return to the country. He created the Military Academy and the National Academy of Music. He inaugurated the international telegraph service. He re-established diplomatic relationships with Spain, which had been severed since the War of Independence. Also, he signed international treaties of commerce and cultural exchange with France and the United Kingdom.
During his second administration, Núñez sponsored, championed and enacted a major and fundamental overhaul of the nation’s political structure, which ended with the adoption and enactment of the new Constitution of the Republic of Colombia, which came to be known as the Constitution of 1886.
Literature
In 1874, while in Europe, he had many of his most important writings published.
Núñez was the author of the words to the national anthem of Colombia, ¡Oh Gloria Inmarcesible!.
Núñez is mentioned in Gabriel García Márquez's 1985 novel, Love in the Time of Cholera (Amor en los tiempos del cólera).