Jorge Eliécer Gaitán

Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala was a Colombian politician and socialist leader. He served as Bogotá's mayor in 1936, as Colombia's Education Minister in 1940, and as its Labor Minister from 1943-1944. He was twice a Presidential candidate in Colombia for the 1946 and 1950 elections. Favored to win as leader of the Colombian Liberal Party during his second campaign, he was assassinated in 1948. The death of Gaitán is considered the beginning of an era of political turmoil and violence in Colombia known as La Violencia. From 2001 to 2016, his portrait was featured on Colombia's 1000 pesos banknote.