Luis Villar Borda (1929–2008) was a Colombian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, diplomat, and lawyer.

Personal life

He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to Colombian parents who returned to Colombia during the Great Depression. In Colombia he studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the National University of Colombia, before doing a doctorate at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. He was in Bogota at the murder of Jorge Gaitán in 1948, and witnessed the

Bogotazo El Bogotazo (from "Bogotá" and the ''-azo'' suffix of violent augmentation) refers to the massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9 April 194 ...

. When

Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian Army of Colombia, Army general, civil engineer and dictator who ruled as List of presidents of Colombia, 19th President of Colombia as from June 1953 to May 1957. Rojas ...

took power he went into exile in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. When he came back he was a founding member of the Movimiento Revolucionario Liberal (MRL) alongside

Gabriel Garcia Marquez In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

Alfonso Lopez Michelsen Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

, and others. It was at this time he was elected a congressman. Under

Carlos Lleras Restrepo Carlos Alberto Lleras Restrepo (12 April 1908 – 27 September 1994) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served the 22nd President of Colombia from 1966 to 1970. Biographic data Lleras was born in Bogotá, on 12 April 1908. He was the ...

he worked on Constitutional Reform Committee. From 1970 to 1973 he was Ambassador of Colombia to Sweden, before returning to Colombia to become a congressman again, where he rose to be Speaker of the House in Colombia. After that he became a member of the Colombian delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

; to do this he renounced his American citizenship. From 1983 until 1988 he was Colombian Ambassador to China, and from 1988 to 1991 he was the last Colombian Ambassador to East Berlin. He later wrote a memoir called El Ultimo Embajador. He was also the uncle of the actor and comedian

Mo Rocca Maurice Alberto Rocca (born January 28, 1969) is an American humorist, journalist, and actor. He is a correspondent for ''CBS Sunday Morning'', the host and creator of ''My Grandmother's Ravioli'' on the Cooking Channel, and also the host of '' Th ...

. He died July 23, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Villar Borda, Luis Colombian politicians Colombian diplomats 20th-century Colombian lawyers Ambassadors of Colombia to Sweden Ambassadors of Colombia to China 1929 births 2008 deaths Humboldt University of Berlin alumni National University of Colombia alumni Former United States citizens Colombian Liberal Party politicians