Uribe Uribe, Rafael, 1859-1914

Rafael Uribe Uribe, politician, lawyer, journalist, diplomat, general, and Colombia Liberal Party (Partido Liberal (Colombia)) leader, was born in Valparaiso, Colombia, in 1859. Early on, he was involved in various military campaigns, fighting in civil wars that erupted in Colombia throughout the late 1800s. In the early 1900s, he began to concentrate his efforts in journalism and political matters and was actively involved in promoting progressive ideals in a country torn by long-standing political, social, and economic strife. Uribe Uribe died on 16 October 1914 as a result of an ax attack by two individuals while he was walking by the Capitolio Nacional in Bogota, Colombia.

Rafael Uribe Uribe, politician, lawyer, journalist, diplomat, general, and leader of the Colombia Liberal Party (Partido Liberal (Colombia)), was born in Valparaiso, Colombia, on 12 April 1859. In 1871, Uribe Uribe attended a military school in Medellin, Colombia, but due to economic reasons, his family moved to the state of Cauca, Colombia, where he continued his education at the school of Buga. While in he was in school, the Colombian civil war of 1876 broke out, and he joined the liberal army. After the war ended, he left for Bogota. In 1880, he was graduated from Our Lady of the Rosary Superior School, having studied law.

In 1895, Uribe Uribe participated in the short-lived revolutionary war of the same year, and, after the defeat of the Liberals, he was captured and detained for five months in Cartagena, Colombia. In 1896, Uribe Uribe was elected to the Colombian House of Representatives as the sole Liberal member of Congress. The following year, the Liberal National Convention appointed him as external relations representative of the Colombia Liberal Party, charged with promoting liberalism in other Latin American countries. In 1899, the Thousand Days' War broke out; Uribe Uribe participated as general of the Liberal army.

After the civil war ended, Uribe Uribe concentrated his efforts in journalism and politics. In 1907, he became the chief leader of the Colombia Liberal Party, and, in 1911, he founded El Liberal newspaper. In that same year, he was elected Senator of the Republic in the Departments of Antioquia and Caldas. From then on, he was actively involved in promoting progressive ideals in a country torn by long-standing political, social, and economic strife.

Rafael Uribe Uribe died just after midnight on 16 October 1914, after being assaulted with an ax by two individuals as he was walking by the Capitolio Nacional in Bogota, Colombia.