José Miguel Pey y García de Andrade (March 11, 1763 – August 17, 1838) was a Colombian statesman and soldier and a leader of the independence movement from Spain. He is considered the first

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

and first president of Colombia. He was a centralist.

Background

Pey, a Criollo, was born on March 11, 1763, in Santa Fe de Bogotá, New Granada into a distinguished family. His father, Juan Francisco Pey, was an '' oidor'' of the '' Audiencia'' of Santa Fe de Bogotá, one of the most important positions at the time. Pey studied at the '' Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé'', graduating as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

in 1787. Under the rule of

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

Antonio José Amar y Borbón, Pey was elected ''

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' of

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

, replacing José Antonio de Ugarte in January 1810. Within a few months, various independence riots broke out around the viceroyalty, and the turmoil soon arrived in the capital.

Vice Presidency

Pey was ''alcalde'' of Bogotá at the time of the Cry of Independence, also known as the '' Florero de Llorente'' (Llorente Flower Vase) (July 20, 1810). On that morning, the history of the country changed; a group of Criollos accused José Gonzalez Llorente of discrimination and riots broke out all over the city. Pey, as the ''alcalde'', tried to calm the populace. He proposed protective custody for Llorente, but by doing so he confirmed his culpability in the eyes of the general population and thus fueled the insurgency. That same day a '' cabildo abierto'' was convened to decide the future of the city. The ''cabildo'' was formed by members of the Criollo oligarchy, both revolutionaries and royalists. The Cabildo opted to create a '' Junta Suprema'' (Supreme Governing Committee) with Viceroy Amar y Borbón as president and Pey as vice president. Amar was sworn in during the early hours of the next day. However, he refused to preside over the junta, and as a consequence, that duty fell to Pey. Pey thus became the first Criollo to exercise executive power in the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...

. This Junta approved the Act of Independence, and Pey was one of the signers.

Junta

On July 25, 1810, Amar y Borbón was removed from the Supreme Junta and Pey became president in his own right. The following day the Junta recognized King Ferdinand VII, but not the Regency in Spain. Pey led the government with prudence, he himself maintaining loyalty to the House of Bourbon but in favor of regional independence. He was in a difficult situation mediating between the moderate and radical factions in the Junta and in the city. He was pressured to order the arrest of Viceroy Antonio José Amar and his wife the Vicereine María Francisca Villanová on August 13, 1810, but he was not in favor of this action. Shortly thereafter, he had the viceroy moved secretly out of

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past ...

, where he could escape to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cundinamarca was adopted in March 1811 for the province of Bogotá, and a congress of New Granadan provinces was convened. On April 1, with the election of Jorge Tadeo Lozano as resident of the congress, Pey's role as the chief executive in New Granada ended. The congress resulted in the creation of the United Provinces of New Granada in November, which Cundinamarca refused to join. After forces of the United Provinces under the command of

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

occupied Cundinamarca, Pey was named governor of the province on December 20, 1814.

Triumvirate

On March 28, 1815, an Executive

Triumvirate A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...

for the United Provinces of the New Granada was established. Custodio García Rovira, José Manuel Restrepo, and Manuel Rodríguez Torices were chosen as members of the triumvirate, but Restrepo declined and was never sworn in, so Pey was appointed in his place. He continued in this capacity until July 28 of the same year.

Presidium

On April 30, 1831, after the resignation of the president of

Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...

, Rafael Urdaneta, Congress created a three-member ''Ejecutivo Plural'', or Presidium, that delegated the powers of the presidency to Juan García del Río, Jerónimo Gutiérrez de MendozaBiography of Jerónimo Guitiérrez de Mendoza
/ref> and Pey. Pey was vested with the powers of secretary of war. This presidium ended on May 5, 1831, when vice president Domingo Caycedo took power. Pey was married to Juana Hipólita Bastidas. He died on August 17, 1838, at the age of 75 in Bogotá.

References