Margarita Diez-Colunje y Pombo (10 June 183818 April 1919) was a Colombian historian, translator, and genealogist.

Early life and education

Margarita Diez-Colunje y Pombo was born in Buenaventura, 10 June 1838. Her parents were José María Diez-Colunje Caballero, a native of Panama, and Natalia Pombo O'Donnell,Quintero Guzmán, Miguel Wenceslao (2006), p. 1361 niece of

Enrique O'Donnell, Conde de La Bisbal Enrique José O'Donnell y Anatar, conde de La Bisbal or (English: Henry Joseph O'Donnell) (1769 – 17 May 1834) was a Spanish general of Irish descent who fought in the Peninsular War. Biography O'Donnell was born in San Sebastián, a descendan ...

,Alonso de Cadenas y López, Ampelio (2012), p. 509 and cousin of Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan and 1st Count of Lucena,Alonso de Cadenas y López, Ampelio (2012), p. 969De Burgos, Augusto (1860), p. 129 and I Conde de Lucena.Alonso de Cadenas y López, Ampelio (2012), p. 547 She was born in Buenaventura because her father was working at the time as a customs administrator in that city.Prado Arellano, Luis Ervin, y Prado Valencia, David Fernando (2017), p. 39 Her baptismal godparents were her cousin, Julio Arboleda Pombo, and María Josefa Mallarino de Holguín,Aragón, Arcesio (1941), p. 167 mother of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Carlos Holguín Mallarino Carlos Holguín Mallarino (11 June 1832 – 19 October 1894) was a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and politician, who became President of Colombia between 1888 and 1892, acting in the absence of President Rafael Núñez.Gobernantes Colombiano ...

. Notable for her precocity and intelligence,Castrillón Arboleda, Diego (2007), p. 78 she learned to read at the age of four. Her maternal aunt, Teresa Pombo O'Donnell, took charge of the child's elementary education and moved with Diez-Colunje to

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, where Diez-Colunje entered the Colegio del Sagrado Corazón, a female school founded and run by Sixta Tulia Pontón y Piedrahita (1814-1861), the widow of General

Francisco de Paula Santander Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (Villa del Rosario, Norte de Santander, Colombia, April 2, 1792 – Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, May 6, 1840), was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independ ...

. Upon the death of her aunt, Diez-Colunje's education and upbringing were carried out by a maternal uncle, Lino de Pombo O'Donnell. At the Bogota campus, Diez-Colunje took classes in French, religion, history, grammar, arithmetic, geometry, geography, physics, English, music and embroidery, and had relevant figures of the time among her teachers and preceptors, including

Mariano Ospina Rodríguez Mariano Ospina Rodríguez was a Colombian politician, journalist and lawyer, founder of the Colombian Conservative Party and later President of Colombia between 1857 and 1861Arismendi Posada, Ignacio; ''Gobernantes Colombianos''; trans. Colom ...

and José Manuel Groot. She became fluent in the French language, enough so to become an experienced translator from that language into Spanish.

Career

She published several writings in the magazine ''Popayán'', founded by her son, Miguel Arroyo Diez, and Antonino Olano.Buendía Astudillo, Alexander (2018), p. 39 A keen observer of the future of her time, in her ''Apuntamientos'' (Appointments), Diez-Colunje narrates in detail the circumstances of the murder of her cousin, President Julio Arboleda Pombo in 1862, as well as the seizing of

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian departments of Colombia, department of Cauca Department, Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Cordillera Occidental (Colombia), Western Mountain Range and Cordillera Central (Colo ...

by opposition forces years later, a circumstance in which her own family suffered great harassment. In a letter dated 1893, the Panamanian historian, Juan Bautista Pérez y Soto, asks Diez-Colunje for help in gathering data on events in Cauca, destined for a book he had in preparation. Among her unpublished work, ''Emigración de Popayán en 1877 y 1878'' stands out, in which the author makes a detailed list of the almost 200 members of Payanese families -including hers- who were forced to emigrate to Bogotá,

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

,Arroyo, Miguel Antonio (1953), pp. 25-27 because of the difficult political situation prevailing in that period. Cuadro genealógico revista Popayán

In 1910, on the occasion of the commemoration of the first centenary of

national independence The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

, she established and demonstrated, after meticulous historical research, that the conqueror,

Sebastián de Belalcázar Sebastián de Belalcázar (; 1479/1480 – 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. De Belalcázar, also written as de Benalcázar, is known as the founder of important early colonial cities in the northwestern part of South America; Quito in 1534 and Ca ...

, was the common link of several heroes of the Independence, among them, Silvestre Ortiz, Fidel Pombo O'Donnell, Miguel de Pombo,

Francisco José de Caldas Francisco José de Caldas (October 4, 1768 – October 28, 1816) was a Colombian lawyer, military engineer, self-taught naturalist, mathematician, geographer and inventor (he created the first hypsometer), who was executed by orders of Pablo Mo ...

, José María Quijano, Francisco José de Caldas, Camilo Torres Tenorio, and Joaquín Cayzedo y Cuero.Diez-Colunje de Arroyo, Margarita (1910) This study achieved wide recognition among historians of the time, and was printed and reproduced profusely throughout the 20th century.Hernández de Alba, Guillermo (1982), p. 62 Her translations from French cover historical, biographical, and lyrical themes. Among her best-accomplished texts are ''Los muros de una prisión'', ''La jornada sangrienta'', and ''María de Médicis''. Shortly before her death in 1919, Diez-Colunje wrote a profile of Ignacio Muñoz Córdoba (1857-1935), in which she describes the life of the prosperous Cauca businessman and his business boom through, among others, the purchase of numerous Cauca haciendas, including Genagra Alto, which belonged to the Arroyo family. These memoirs were compiled and transcribed posthumously by her grandson, Miguel Antonio Arroyo Arboleda, and published years later under the title ''Recuerdos de don Ignacio Muñoz''.Iragorri, Luis Carlos (1978), p. 182

Personal life

On March 25, 1857, in Popayán, Diez-Colunje married the political leader, Miguel Arroyo Hurtado,Restrepo Sáenz, José María y Rivas, Raimundo (1928), p. 61 with whom she had four children: * Beatriz Arroyo Diez, celibate, artist who bequeathed numerous works in varied techniques such as pastel and oil on canvas for posterity * Miguel Arroyo Diez, prominent politician and historian; married, María Manuela Olano Borrero * Santiago Arroyo Diez, member of the Colombian Academy of History; married, Zoila Arboleda Sánchez * José Antonio Arroyo Diez, mayor of Popayán in 1905; married, Sofía Arboleda QuijanoArboleda, Gustavo (1962), p. 29 Due to the fratricidal struggles that ravaged Colombia during the second half of the 19th century, the Arroyo Diez family had to settle in Ecuador repeatedly and for long periods of time. Diez-Colunje served as

Syndic Syndic (Late Latin: '; Greek: ' – one who helps in a court of justice, an advocate, representative) is a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a universi ...

of the Brotherhood of

San Antonio de Padua San Antonio de Padua, or plainly Padua, is a city in the Greater Buenos Aires, in Argentina. It is located in Merlo Partido. The city has an area of and a population of around 38,000. The name commemorates the village founded by Francisco de Mer ...

, established in Popayán in 1772 by a

Papal brief A papal brief or breve is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a papal bull. History The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 Marc ...

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...

, with permanent headquarters in Popayán's Iglesia de San Francisco,Arquidiócesis de Popayán (2014), p. 54 a family tradition that passed to her daughter, Beatriz Arroyo Diez, and from there, to her niece, Sofía Dolores Arroyo de Arboleda. Diez-Colunje died in the Cauca capital, 18 April 1919, at the age of 81.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Alonso de Cadenas y López, Ampelio (2012). ''Elenco de Grandezas y Títulos Nobiliarios Españoles- Real Asociación de Hidalgos de España''. Madrid: Ediciones Hidalguía *Aragón, Arcesio (1941). ''Fastos Payaneses'' - Publicación del Ministerio de Educación Nacional. Bogotá: Imprenta Nacional *Aragón, Arcesio (1925). ''La Universidad del Cauca - Monografía Histórica''. Popayán: Imprenta Oficial del Departamento del Cauca *Arboleda, Gustavo (1962). ''Diccionario Biográfico y Genealógico del Antiguo Departamento del Cauca''. Bogotá: Guadalupe *Arquidiócesis de Popayán (2014). ''Popayán: Religión, Arte y Cultura''. Cali: Feriva S.A. *Arroyo, Miguel Antonio (1953). ''El Cauca es así - Un ensayo de su realidad económica y social sobre los datos de la historia, la geografía y la estadística.'' Popayán: Universidad del Cauca *Buendía Astudillo, Alexander (2018). ''Narrativa histórica en la Revista Popayán''. Popayán: Editorial Universidad del Cauca *Castrillón Arboleda, Diego (2007). ''Muros de Bronce - Popayán y sus estancias históricas, humanas y territoriales''. Cali: Feriva. *De Burgos, Augusto (1860). ''Duque de Tetuán'' en ''Blasón de España - Libro de oro de su nobleza.'' Madrid: Imprenta de don Pedro Montero *Diez-Colunje de Arroyo, Margarita (1910). ''Genealogías - Homenaje a los próceres. Primer centenario de 1810''. Separata especial de la revista Popayán N° 29–34. Popayán: Imprenta Departamental *Hernández de Alba, Guillermo (1982). ''Las postrimerías de Julio Arboleda'' en ''Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico de la Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango'', volumen XIX, n° 4. Bogotá: Banco de la República *Iragorri, Luis Carlos (1978). ''Estampa de un payanés ilustre: Ignacio Muñoz Córdoba'' en ''Revista Popayán - Órgano de la Academia de Historia del Cauca'', año LXIX, número 298. Popayán: Imprenta del Departamento *Martínez Delgado, Luis (1959). ''Popayán, Ciudad Procera''. Bogotá: Kelly *Prado Arellano, Luis Ervin, y Prado Valencia, David Fernando (2017). ''Narraciones contemporáneas de la guerra por la federación en el Cauca (1859-1863)''. Bogotá: Editorial Universidad del Rosario *Quintero Guzmán, Miguel Wenceslao (2006). ''Linajes del Cauca Grande, fuentes para la historia'', tomo II. Bogotá: Universidad de los Andes *Restrepo Sáenz, José María y Rivas, Raimundo (1928). ''Genealogías de Santa Fe de Bogotá''. Bogotá: Librería Colombiana {{DEFAULTSORT:Diez-Colunje y Pombo, Margarita 1838 births 1919 deaths 19th-century Colombian historians 20th-century Colombian historians 19th-century Colombian women writers 20th-century Colombian women writers Women biographers Colombian translators Genealogists Spanish people of Irish descent People from Cauca Department People from Popayán