Jorge Isaacs (1837-1895) was Colombia's greatest 19th century novelist. He also was politically active and one of Colombia's first cultural anthropologists.

Jorge Isaacs was born, probably in the city of Cali, on April 1, 1837, the son of a converted English Jew, George Henry Isaacs, and his wife, Manuela Ferrer, a lady well-connected to the elite of the provinces of northwestern Colombia. Jorge was educated in Cali and in Bogotá. Upon the outbreak of the Melo Revolt in 1854, the youthful Isaacs saw service on the Constitutionalist side, and 2 years later he married Felisa González of Cali.

His father's business failure in the late 1850s caused Jorge to seek employment in a variety of public posts and to engage in several unsuccessful business ventures of his own. Thus, he spent about a year as inspector of the Dagua Road in 1864-1865, a job which permanently damaged his health...