Sofía Medina de López Villa (died September 27, 2017) was a Colombian politician. She served as the

Mayor of Medellín This is a list of mayors of Medellín, Colombia. Ordinary mayors of Villa de la Candelaria Until 1863, the administrator of Medellin was known as the Ordinary Mayor of Villa de la Candelaria de Medellín. * José Zapata y Múnera * Tomás Ibarr ...

, the country's second largest city, from 1976 until 1977. Medina de López was

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

's first female mayor and remains the only woman to hold the mayoral office in the city's history. Medina de López was raised in the town of

Yolombó Yolombó is a town and municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. It is part of the subregion of Northeastern Antioquia, located 108 km from Medellín. History Yolombó is an indigenous term that comes from the area. In 1535 ...

in Northeastern

Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part o ...

. In September 1976,

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Alfonso López Michelsen Alfonso López Michelsen (30 June 1913 – 11 July 2007) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the 24th President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was nicknamed "El Pollo" (The Chicken), a popular Colombian idiom for people with ...

, a member of the

Colombian Liberal Party The Colombian Liberal Party (; PLC) is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Socialist International in 1999. Th ...

, appointed Sofía Medina de López, a member of the

Colombian Conservative Party The Colombian Conservative Party () is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was formally established in 1849 by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez and José Eusebio Caro. The Conservative Party along with the Colombian Liberal Party ...

, as the new mayor of Medellín. Despite their different

political affiliation Political identity is a form of social Identity (social science), identity marking membership of certain groups that share a common struggle for a certain form of power. This can include identification with a political party, but also positions o ...

s, President López Michelsen chose Medina de López because her Conservative Party dominated both the Antioquia Department's state government and the city of Medellín at the time. Medina de López resigned from office in July 1977 due to a dispute with the national government.

Governor Jaime Sierra García appointed Guillermo Hincapié Orozco, who took office on July 15, 1977, as her successor. Today, the Mayor of Medellín is a directly elected office. Sofía Medina de López remains Medellín's only female mayor to date. Sofía Medina de López died in

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 ...

, where she had lived for many years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medina de López, Sofia Date of birth unknown Year of birth unknown 2017 deaths Mayors of Medellín Colombian women in politics Women mayors of places in Colombia Colombian Conservative Party politicians People from Antioquia Department