One of the founders of Ecuador's Democratic Left (Izquierda Democratica) party, Rodrigo Borja Cevallos (born 1935) was a former president of Ecuador.

Rodrigo Borja Cevallos was born June 19, 1935, in Ecuador's highland capital city, Quito. His family was descended from an aristocratic family of pure Spanish blood, and Borja was the first of seven children born to Luis Felipe Borja and Aurelia Cevallos. His father was active with the Socialist Party, while his grandfather was a distinguished Liberal jurist.

His primary and secondary school education was at the Colegio Americano in Quito. Borja was initially a casual student who excelled in athletics while gradually developing political interests. He graduated at the age of 19. At the Central University he became more serious about education, graduating with distinction from the Faculty of Law in 1960. His 500-page thesis on constitutional law was later used as a text elsewhere in Latin America. He then...