1951 in Colombia

Decades:	1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s;
See also:	Other events of 1951; Timeline of Colombian history;

Events of 1951 in Colombia.

Incumbents

President:
- Laureano Gómez (1950–1953).
- Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez (1951–1953).^{[n 1]}
Vice President: N/A.^{[n 2]}

Events

Ongoing

La Violencia.

January

8 January – The club Deportes Quindío founded in Armenia.
5–17 January – The very first Vuelta a Colombia is held, beginning in Bogotá on the 5th.On the 17th, Efraín Forero Triviño of Cundinamarca wins.

March

25 March – The Colombian government announced import controls on over 2000 items, including cars and other luxuries, to suppress black market trading.^[1]^[2]

May

9 May –The 1951 population census of the state of Antioquia is held.^[3]
24 May – La Gran Colombia University founded.

June

15 June – Colombian Battalion is deployed to Busan.

August

25 August – Ecopetrol is founded as Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos S.A. (English:Colombian Petroleum Company).^[4]

September

16 September – 1951 Colombian parliamentary election.

October

25 October – The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) disaffiliates Colombia.^[5]
28 October – President Gomez is hospitalized after having a heart attack, which leaves him partially paralyzed for the rest of his life.^[6]^[7]

November

5 November – Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez becomes acting President of Colombia.

Uncertain

The 1951 Campeonato Profesional is won by the Millonarios F.C.

Births

January

6 January – Gustavo Zalamea, artist (d. 2011).

February

6 February – Darío Gómez, musician (d. 2022).
11 February – Luis Eduardo Garzón, politician.

March

12 March – Diego Umaña, footballer.
17 March – Carmenza Duque, singer and actress.^[8]

April

22 April – José Fernando Castro, lawyer and politician (d. 2008).

May

8 May – Ricardo Tobón Restrepo, archbishop of Medellín.
21 May – William Vinasco Chamorro, sports journalist.

June

6 June – Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, politician and guerilla (d. 1990).

August

1 August – Constanza Duque, actress.
10 August – Juan Manuel Santos, politician and 32nd President of Colombia.
23 August – Cholo Valderrama, joropo musician and songwriter.
24 August – Hélmer Herrera, drug trafficker (d. 1998).
30 August – Wilson Saoko, musician.

September

18 September – Poncho Zuleta, vallenato musician.
23 September – Carlos Holmes Trujillo, politician, lawyer, and former Minister of National Defense (d. 2021).
29 September – Andrés Caicedo, writer (d. 1977).

October

15 October – Miguel Alfonso Murillo, actor (d. 2017).
28 October – Rodrigo Obregón, actor (d. 2019).

November

23 November – Margarita Londoño Vélez, writer (d. 2021).

December

31 December – Fernando Jaramillo Paredes, orchestra director and musician (d. 2014).

Deaths

9 January – Julio Torres Mayorga, musician and songwriter (b. 1929)^[9]
8 October – Joaquín Casas Castañeda, politician and former Minister of National Education (b. 1866).
unknown date – Cesar Uribe Piedrahita, doctor and writer (b. 1897)

Notes

^ Gómez would step down on 5 November 1951 due to health concerns, leaving Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez as acting president until the 1953 coup.
^ The Office of the Vice President was officially abolished by the 1905 National Constituent Assembly on 28 March 1905, and it was only reinstituted after the ratification of the new 1991 Constitution and filled in the following presidential elections in 1994.

References

^ "Colombia To Devalue, Curb Imports Today", New York Times, 1951-03-26, ProQuest 111991482, retrieved 2025-09-10
^ "Import Ban Unchanged; Colombia Sets New Exchange Rate of 2.50 Pesos to $1", New York Times, 1951-04-16, ProQuest 111936964, retrieved 2025-09-10
^ "Censo de poblacion de Colombia, 1951 (mayo 9)". International Labour Organization (ILO). 1955. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
^ "Our History". Ecopetrol. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
^ Tiempo, Casa Editorial El. "Con Pedernera y Di Stéfano liderando: hace 71 años inició 'El Dorado'". futbolred.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-23.
^ "Recorder 19 June 1953 — Virginia Chronicle: Digital Newspaper Archive". Virginia Chronicle. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
^ Osher Sofer, Douglas (May 2003). El Pueblo and La Rosca: A Political Dialogue in Colombia, 1944-1958. The University of Texas at Austin. p. 84. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
^ "Murió la cantante colombiana Carmenza Duque, la voz de La potra zaina" [Colombian singer Carmenza Duque, voice of La potra zaina, has died], El Colombiano (in Spanish), 2025-05-22, retrieved 2025-06-07
^ "Julio Torres, 90 años de una promesa trunca" [Julio Torres, 90 years of a promise cut short], Radio Nacional de Colombia (in Spanish), 2019-03-25, retrieved 2025-07-21

External links

Media related to 1951 in Colombia at Wikimedia Commons

[acting-1] Gómez would step down on 5 November 1951 due to health concerns, leaving Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez as acting president until the 1953 coup.

[vicepresident-2] The Office of the Vice President was officially abolished by the 1905 National Constituent Assembly on 28 March 1905, and it was only reinstituted after the ratification of the new 1991 Constitution and filled in the following presidential elections in 1994.

[3] "Colombia To Devalue, Curb Imports Today", New York Times, 1951-03-26, ProQuest 111991482, retrieved 2025-09-10

[4] "Import Ban Unchanged; Colombia Sets New Exchange Rate of 2.50 Pesos to $1", New York Times, 1951-04-16, ProQuest 111936964, retrieved 2025-09-10

[5] "Censo de poblacion de Colombia, 1951 (mayo 9)". International Labour Organization (ILO). 1955. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[6] "Our History". Ecopetrol. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[7] Tiempo, Casa Editorial El. "Con Pedernera y Di Stéfano liderando: hace 71 años inició 'El Dorado'". futbolred.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-23.

[8] "Recorder 19 June 1953 — Virginia Chronicle: Digital Newspaper Archive". Virginia Chronicle. Retrieved 2 October 2024.

[9] Osher Sofer, Douglas (May 2003). El Pueblo and La Rosca: A Political Dialogue in Colombia, 1944-1958. The University of Texas at Austin. p. 84. Retrieved 2 October 2024.

[10] "Murió la cantante colombiana Carmenza Duque, la voz de La potra zaina" [Colombian singer Carmenza Duque, voice of La potra zaina, has died], El Colombiano (in Spanish), 2025-05-22, retrieved 2025-06-07

[11] "Julio Torres, 90 años de una promesa trunca" [Julio Torres, 90 years of a promise cut short], Radio Nacional de Colombia (in Spanish), 2019-03-25, retrieved 2025-07-21

[n 1]

[n 2]

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Years in Colombia (1810–present)
19th century	1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

1951 in South America
Sovereign states	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and other territories	Falkland Islands French Guiana South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands