Diego Echavarría Misas
 | This article is a rough translation from Spanish. It may have been generated by a computer or by a translator without dual proficiency. |
 | This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: severe language problems, after the first paragraph the article is mostly incomprehensible. (December 2015) |
Diego Echavarría Misas | |
|---|---|
 Bust of Diego Echavarría Misas, located in the main square of the city of Itagui, Colombia. | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 September 1895 Itagüí, Colombia |
| Died | 19 September 1971 Medellín, Colombia |
| Spouse(s) | Benedikta Zur Nieden |
| Children | Isolda Echavarría |
| Alma mater | College Pedagogium of Bad Godesberg |
| Profession | Entrepreneur |
Diego Echavarría Misas (28 September 1895 in Itagüí – 19 September 1971 in Medellín) was a prominent Colombian businessman and philanthropist who contributed significantly to the municipalities of Aburrá Valley, especially Itagüí City.[1]
Life[]
Diego was the son of Alejandro Echavarria Isaza, a well known Antioqueño businessman originally from Barbosa, and Ana Josefa Misas Euse. At 16 years old he was sent to Germany, where he attended high school in the Paedagogium in Bad Godesberg, near Bonn. Soon after, he travelled throughout Europe whilst periodically visiting Medellin, where he worked with his father. He eventually settled in Paris.
Later he married Benedikta Zur Nieden, also known as 'Dita' with whom he had his only daughter, Isolda Echavarría Zur Nieden, and decided to move to Itagüí.[2] There, they bought a finca which he called Aires de Dita, but changed its name to Ditaires where he planted a grove.
In modern times, the original ground the finca was built on have been used to build neighborhoods and avenues, the cultural house of Itagüí, the college of Alemán de Medellín, and the recreative park of Ditaires. However, the original estate was not modified and is now a convention center.
On Sundays he observed the precarious situation many farmers were in, which prompted him to build a clinic in San Antonio de Prado, donating half the budget for its construction. In 1945, he built the Fundación Biblioteca de Itagüí, which he would later call his favorite piece of work.
Approximately 10,000 readers visited the building in 1960, and by 1971 there were 354,236. The enclosure is currently an auditorium, as the library was transferred to Parque Obrero. In its primary years, it was used as a place for painting classes but they later stopped due to narrowness. In 1970 he donated a large batch of his home in Itagüí to build a school in the neighborhood of Santa Ana, which was called Colegio Waldorf Isolda Echavarría in memory of Diego's only daughter, who died in the United States where she attended university. Her death was due to a rare disease called Guillain-Barré-Landry. With the heritage of his family, Diego created a Foundation for Education and Charitable Works and built the residence Isolda Echavarria in the Pedregal neighborhood; a center that provides practical education and medical care to people living nearby. Almost daily he went up to monitor the work of the construction and later the operations.
After, it was transferred to Poblado with the purchase of 'El Castillo' in which he put several works of art. Upon his death, his wife Dita donated their Medellín home, "El Castillo" (named this because it resembled a Bavarian castle), to a foundation, which still operates it as a cultural center open to the public functioning as a museum. The last thing he managed to create was the Biblioteca de Barbosa. On 8th August 1971, the car which Diego Echavarría Misas was travelling in was approached by some men in the entrance to El Castillo. A month and a half later his body appeared on a farm near to a neighbourhood that bore the name of Diego's father, Alejandro Echavarría. The kidnappers belonged to the "Mono" Trejos gang and Diego was assassinated on September 19, 1971.
Death[]
He was kidnapped and killed on September 19, 1971 by "El Mono" Trejos gang in Medellín.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "Itagüí Archived August 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine," Itagüí City. Web, Sep. 11, 2010.
- ^ "Itagüí Archived August 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine," Itagüí City. Web, Apr. 16, 2009.
External links[]
- "History of Itagüí" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
- People from Itagüí
- Colombian Roman Catholics
- 1895 births
- 1971 deaths