Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (1898-1948) was a Colombian political leader. Emerging from a humble background, he became the idol of the masses and a highly popular reformist leader. His assassination prevented his likely rise to the presidency of Colombia.

Born to an impoverished family on Jan. 23, 1898, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán was forced to struggle for his livelihood from an early age. After working his way through Colombian universities, he studied penal law in Italy under the noted Enrico Ferri. Returning home to a law professorship at the National University, he came to prominence with publication of Las ideas socialistas en Colombia in 1924. In addition to this statement of a progressive reform program for the Liberal party, to which he belonged, Gaitán achieved national prestige with his congressional investigation of a workers' strike and revolt in the Santa Marta banana zone...