Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (April 2, 1792 – May 6, 1840) was a Neogranadine military and political leader who served as Vice-President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and was later elected by Congress as the President of the Republic of New Granada between 1832 and 1837. Santander played a pivotal role in the Colombian War of Independence being one of the main leaders of the Patriot forces and helped lead the Patriot Army alongside Simón Bolívar to victory. He is often credited with creating the legal foundations for democracy in Colombia, as well as creating the country's first system of public education. For these reasons he is considered a National Hero in Colombia and has thus commonly been known as "The Man of the Laws" ("El Hombre de las Leyes") as well as the "Organizer of Victory" ("El Organizador de la Victoria").
Santander was born into a wealthy criollo family in Villa del Rosario, in the Viceroyalty of New Granada and spent most of his formative years there. In 1805 he left his home to continue his education in the Viceregal capital of Santa Fe de Bogotá, while finishing his studies on July 20, 1810 he joined in the revolutionary fervor that would be movement for New Granadan Independence. At the age of 18 Santander abandoned his studies to begin his military career fighting for the Patriot cause against the Royalists initially with the Centralists but switched sides and became an officer in the army of the Federalist United Provinces of New Granada.
In 1813 he was wounded and captured during the civil war between the Federalists and the Centralists, but was released to serve under Manuel del Castillo y Rada and Simón Bolívar in the defense of the Cucuta Valley from the Royalists. For the next 3 years Santander defended the valley from Royalist Incursion until he was defeated at the Battle of Cachirí during the Spanish Reconquest of New Granada. With the collapse of the first republic, he fled to the Casanare Province and joined forces with Venezuelan Patriot forces there first under the command of José Antonio Páez, and then joined Bolívar's forces in Guayana in 1817. Under the command of Bolívar during the 1819 Campaign to Liberate New Granada, Santander led his troops valiantly at the battles of Paya, Gameza, Vargas Swamp, and at Boyacá liberating his homeland from Spanish Rule.
With the creation of Gran Colombia in December 1819, Santander was initially chosen as Vice-President of Cundinamarca, in 1821 at the congress of Cúcuta he was elected as Vice-President of Gran Colombia with Bolívar as President. For the next 6 years, with Bolívar away on campaign, Santander became acting president of the new nation, using his administrative skills to create the foundations for the new republic. In 1827 political differences between him and Bolívar led to a rupture in their relationship, culminating in 1828 when Bolívar accused of him of having masterminded a plot to assassinate him. Though no evidence was ever found to corroborate his guilt, Santander was sentenced to death. His death sentence was commuted to exile, and Santander was stripped of his titles and positions before being sent into a four-year exile in Europe and the United States. After the dissolution of Gran Colombia, in 1832 the newly established congress of the Republic of New Granada elected him as President where he served his term from 1832 to 1837. After the end of his presidency, he was elected as a representative for Bogotá in the chamber of representatives. His health declined shortly thereafter; he died on May 6, 1840.
Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña was born in Villa del Rosario, in the Pamplona Province of the Viceroyalty of New Granada not far from Cúcuta, on April 2, 1792. 11 days later on April 13 he was baptized at the Santa Ana chapel in Villa del Rosario. His parents were Juan Agustín Santander Colmenares who was governor of the rural town of San Faustino de los Ríos as well as a cocoa and coffee plant grower, his mother; Antonia Manuela de Omaña Rodríguez. Both were descendants of aristocratic Spanish families who had settled in the New Kingdom of Granada. The couple had two children before Santander, a boy Pedro José and a girl Josefa Teresa who died in their infancy. 2 years after Santander was born the couple had another girl Josefa Dolores. Santander grew up in a family that was both socially and economically privileged and that had a large influence in the region where he was born through the ownership of various haciendas and properties.
He received his primary education in a private school in Villa del Rosario, and upon learning how to read became a voracious reader combing through the various books his father's library possessed. He was also taught Latin by a local clergyman. Even at a young age Santander noticed how there was considerable lack of schools for public education as well as trained teachers in the New Kingdom of Granada. Discrimination based on social class often meant that the majority of the population was excluded from a getting even a primary education, and even those who did receive one were taught a very basic curriculum that was often a victim of censorship by colonial authorities. This left a lasting impact on Santander who later in life as President would implement a policy of promoting creating public schools with trained teachers operated by the government for the general population.
As Santander's family was an aristocratic one, it was common for the family to send their children to receive further education in the viceregal capital, Santa Fé. In the capital there were essentially 2 career paths offered by higher education institutions, those being Law or Religion. Juan Agustin Santander then asked his brother-in-law, the priest Nicolás Mauricio de Omaña y Rodriguez, to try to get the young Francisco de Paula a scholarship at the Colegio de San Bartolomé. Santander now 13, was sent by his father Juan Agustin to Santa Fe in 1805 and enrolled in the Colegio Mayor y Seminario de San Bartolomé.
After arriving in Santa Fe, the young Francisco de Paula lived in the Colegio de San Bartolomé where his maternal uncle lived at that time, the priest Nicolás Mauricio de Omaña, who occupied the position of vice-rector of that establishment. Nicolás Mauricio de Omaña was a well known figure in the city, and was friends with many of the enlightened and cultured criollos of Santa Fe. His teachings had a large influence over the young Santander who wrote in his memoirs that his uncle had taught him " To know the justice, convenience and need for these countries to shake Spanish domination."
This sentiment was shared by many of the professors at the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé who would also play a big role in the independence movement. By 1808, Santander had received his secondary education and began to study law at the University of Santo Tomás. The education he received at the Colegio de San Bartolomé left a big impact on Santander. The legal doctrines extracted from the Roman, Spanish and Indian laws shaped his thinking. This helped him to later organize Colombia with exemplary method and order.
As a young law student, Santander was finishing his studies at the University of Santo Tomás when he witnessed first hand the events of the Revolt of July 20, 1810, which would be later known as the cry of independence, where the criollos of Santa Fe revolted against to the Viceregal government of Viceroy Antonio José Amar y Borbón and began the establishment of juntas in 1810, which began the process of independence in New Granada. At the age of 18, Santander abandoned his studies and enlisted on October 26, 1810, as a sub-lieutenant in the National Guard ("Guardias Nacionales") infantry battalion as a flag-bearer. In 1811 the Government of Santa Fe, seeking to impose their hegemony over the other provinces that had begun to form their own independent juntas, deployed a number of military expeditions to incorporate these provinces. The young Santander would be part of a military expedition of some 300 men under the command of cartagenian captain Manuel del Castillo y Rada to the Mariquita province. This expedition would culminate successfully with the Mariquita province being successfully annexed into the Cundinamarca province, with this his unit returned to Santa Fe in June 1811. After returning to Santa Fe Santander was assigned to the Military Inspection Unit of Santa Fe. In January 1812 general Antonio Baraya returned to Santa Fe after having defeated the Royalist forces who had tried to reconquer the independent cities of the Cauca Valley in the northern part of the Popayán Province, as a result of this Santander was made his secretary on January 17, 1812.