Luis Castellanos Tapias
Encyclopedia
Luis Castellanos Tapias was a Colombia
n attorney (Universidad Externado de Colombia
), historian, politician, publisher and writer.
Castellanos Tapias (who studied history with José Fulgencio Gutiérrez, prominent historian from Bucaramanga
, Santander
, and author of the historical study "Galán y los Comuneros"), published in 1962 a novel that has as its main historical reference the insurrection of the Comuneros (1781) in the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, "El Alzamiento" or 'The Uprising.' Castellanos Tapias is also the author of at least two other unpublished novels, "El Amo", or 'The Master' and "La Muerte del Juez Barton" or "The Death of Judge Barton." Records show him also as the author of a technical report and a census on the tobacco industry in Colombia for Instituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero (INTABACO)and at least one article on the economics of business cycles.
Castellanos was a member of the conservative party and occupied several prominent provincial and national positions, among them Secretary of Government (Departmental Interior Secretary)under Santander Governor Rafael Ortiz Gonzales during the period leading to the political crisis of April 1948. From his governmental positions Castellanos Tapias was instrumental, together with other Santander leaders, in promoting the founding of the Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), one of the truly prestigious Colombian universities, of which he was the second president ("rector.") After studying industrial statistics with a ONU
scholarship in USA and Canada
, he intervened in the founding and was the leading executive of the Departamento Nacional de Estadística (National Department of Statistics), the forerunner of today's DANE (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadísticas).
Castellanos was also leading assistant to the minister of Agriculture and on occasion, acting minister of Agriculture. Later on he was the leading executive (Gerente General) of the Instituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero (INTABACO). Castellanos was founder and publisher of the short-lived "La Nación Agrícola" magazine. Towards the end of his life he was also a Notary, a Judge and the president of the Directorio Conservador in Barrancabermeja, Santander. While living in Barrancabermeja Castellanos Tapias was made a full member ("Miembro de Número") of the Academy of History of Santander and was chosen to preside over the founding of the Centro de Historia de Barrancabermeja
, the local chapter of the Academy of History of Santander.
of historiography, that came to Castellanos Tapias through his history teacher at Colegio de Santander, José Fulgencio Gutiérrez. The epic 1781 uprising of the peasants from Santander and Boyacá against Spanish abuses is depicted through the lives of a family of humble tobacco growers. When they run afoul of the Spanish taxation agents, the crop is destroyed, their home is planted with salt and burned to the ground, and the head of the family is thrown in jail. Destitute, the wife descends into madness and goes around town chanting the local couplets that by then foretell the coming insurrection. With an eye to the social forces bubbling up to threaten Spanish colonial power and faithful to historical detail, the novel fleshes out the characters of the women and men that led the insurrection and suffered the ensuing repression afterwards. The priests preach humility while averting their eyes away from the authorities' crimes. The "criollo" middle classes, the future "heroes" of the national independence from Spain, take advantage of the triumphant movement to help themselves, later on turning their backs and delivering the peasant leaders to be executed. Amid despair and hopelessness, the novel ends with the peasant youngsters on the verge of a guerrilla attack on incoming Spanish forces, a clear reference to the political dynamics of Colombia which by the time the novel was written had taken the form of insurgent guerrilla movements.
Available at the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango
Número Topográfico: 338.17371 I57r 20 ed. Autor: Instituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero (Bogotá) Título: Resumen estadístico : tabaco / Intituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero ; gerente Luis Castellanos Tapias. Editorial: Bogotá : Instituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero, 1959. Descripción física: 59 h. ; 27 cm.
Número Topográfico: Co863.6 C17a 19 ed. Author: Castellanos Tapias, Luis. Título: El alzamiento : novela / Luis Castellanos. Editorial: Bogotá : Ediciones Edicrón, 1962. Descripción física: 211 p. ; 20 cm. Notas: Colección Jorge Ortega Torres.
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n attorney (Universidad Externado de Colombia
Universidad Externado de Colombia
The Universidad Externado de Colombia in Bogotá, Colombia, is a private university which grants 4 and 5 year primary and professional degrees as well as advanced 2-year Magister degrees. Instruction is primarily in Spanish. The dean is Dr...
), historian, politician, publisher and writer.
Castellanos Tapias (who studied history with José Fulgencio Gutiérrez, prominent historian from Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
, Santander
Santander Department
Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...
, and author of the historical study "Galán y los Comuneros"), published in 1962 a novel that has as its main historical reference the insurrection of the Comuneros (1781) in the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, "El Alzamiento" or 'The Uprising.' Castellanos Tapias is also the author of at least two other unpublished novels, "El Amo", or 'The Master' and "La Muerte del Juez Barton" or "The Death of Judge Barton." Records show him also as the author of a technical report and a census on the tobacco industry in Colombia for Instituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero (INTABACO)and at least one article on the economics of business cycles.
Castellanos was a member of the conservative party and occupied several prominent provincial and national positions, among them Secretary of Government (Departmental Interior Secretary)under Santander Governor Rafael Ortiz Gonzales during the period leading to the political crisis of April 1948. From his governmental positions Castellanos Tapias was instrumental, together with other Santander leaders, in promoting the founding of the Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), one of the truly prestigious Colombian universities, of which he was the second president ("rector.") After studying industrial statistics with a ONU
ONU
ONU may refer to:* United Nations in the Romance languages and Arabic: منظمة الأمم المتحدة* Olivet Nazarene University* Ohio Northern University, a selective private university in Ada, Ohio....
scholarship in USA and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, he intervened in the founding and was the leading executive of the Departamento Nacional de Estadística (National Department of Statistics), the forerunner of today's DANE (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadísticas).
Castellanos was also leading assistant to the minister of Agriculture and on occasion, acting minister of Agriculture. Later on he was the leading executive (Gerente General) of the Instituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero (INTABACO). Castellanos was founder and publisher of the short-lived "La Nación Agrícola" magazine. Towards the end of his life he was also a Notary, a Judge and the president of the Directorio Conservador in Barrancabermeja, Santander. While living in Barrancabermeja Castellanos Tapias was made a full member ("Miembro de Número") of the Academy of History of Santander and was chosen to preside over the founding of the Centro de Historia de Barrancabermeja
Barrancabermeja
Barrancabermeja is a city and municipality in Santander Department, in northeastern Colombia. It is located on the banks of the Magdalena River in the Middle Magdalena region, 110 km west of Bucaramanga. Founded in 1536, Barrancabermeja is home of the biggest petroleum refinery in Colombia,...
, the local chapter of the Academy of History of Santander.
El Alzamiento.
The 1962 novel "El Alzamiento" shows the influences of the French Annales schoolAnnales School
The Annales School is a group of historians associated with a style of historiography developed by French historians in the 20th century. It is named after its scholarly journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale, which remains the main source of scholarship, along with many books and...
of historiography, that came to Castellanos Tapias through his history teacher at Colegio de Santander, José Fulgencio Gutiérrez. The epic 1781 uprising of the peasants from Santander and Boyacá against Spanish abuses is depicted through the lives of a family of humble tobacco growers. When they run afoul of the Spanish taxation agents, the crop is destroyed, their home is planted with salt and burned to the ground, and the head of the family is thrown in jail. Destitute, the wife descends into madness and goes around town chanting the local couplets that by then foretell the coming insurrection. With an eye to the social forces bubbling up to threaten Spanish colonial power and faithful to historical detail, the novel fleshes out the characters of the women and men that led the insurrection and suffered the ensuing repression afterwards. The priests preach humility while averting their eyes away from the authorities' crimes. The "criollo" middle classes, the future "heroes" of the national independence from Spain, take advantage of the triumphant movement to help themselves, later on turning their backs and delivering the peasant leaders to be executed. Amid despair and hopelessness, the novel ends with the peasant youngsters on the verge of a guerrilla attack on incoming Spanish forces, a clear reference to the political dynamics of Colombia which by the time the novel was written had taken the form of insurgent guerrilla movements.
External links
Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango http://www.lablaa.org/Available at the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango
Número Topográfico: 338.17371 I57r 20 ed. Autor: Instituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero (Bogotá) Título: Resumen estadístico : tabaco / Intituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero ; gerente Luis Castellanos Tapias. Editorial: Bogotá : Instituto Nacional de Fomento Tabacalero, 1959. Descripción física: 59 h. ; 27 cm.
Número Topográfico: Co863.6 C17a 19 ed. Author: Castellanos Tapias, Luis. Título: El alzamiento : novela / Luis Castellanos. Editorial: Bogotá : Ediciones Edicrón, 1962. Descripción física: 211 p. ; 20 cm. Notas: Colección Jorge Ortega Torres.
Further reading
- GUTIERREZ, José Fulgencio. "Galán y los Comuneros". Bucaramanga, Imprenta Departamental, 1939.
- CASTELLANOS TAPIAS, Luis. "El Alzamiento". Bogotá, Ediciones Edicrón-Editorial Guadalupe, 1962.
Historical Bibliography on the Comuneros movement
- AGUILERA Peña, Mario. "Los comuneros: guerra social y lucha anticolonial". Bogotá, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 1985.
- ARCINIEGAS, Germán. "20.000 Comuneros hacia Santa Fe". Bogotá, Pluma, 1981.
- FRIEDE, Juan. "Rebelión comunera de 1781. Documentos". Bogotá, Colcultura, 1981.
- PHELAN, John Leddy. "El pueblo y el rey. La revolución comunera en Colombia, 1781". Bogotá, Carlos Valencia, 1980.