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.[1]

Contents

• 1 Early life

• 2 Political career

• 3 Legacy

• 4 Literature

• 5 References

Early life[edit]
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.

Rafael Núñez study

Political career[edit]
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. [2]
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.[3]
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. [4]

Rafael Núñez home

Legacy[edit]
In his first administration, Núñez restored 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.[5]
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.[6]

Literature[edit]
 1888 commercial color lithograph of Núñez

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!.[7]
Núñez is mentioned in Gabriel García Márquez's 1985 novel, Love in the Time of
Cholera (Amor en los tiempos del cólera).

References