CULTURE
Influential Colombian Women Throughout History
Are you interested in Colombia and its influencers?
Talented Colombian women are changing the world. They are winning international acclaim and dominating a diverse range of fields, such as technology, science, food, film and sports. But like all current generations, the opportunity to succeed is owed to the pioneers who made things possible amid challenges, prejudice, and resistance.
Below is a list of women using their talent, drive and vision to make their country proud.
1. Sofia Gomez Uribe — Fearless Freediver
Sofia Gomez Uribe, from the city of Pereira, is one of Colombia’s most successful athletes. She is a world record holder for freediving, having plunged to 86m. She’s also a Pan-American record holder for dynamic apnea with fins, having swum 195.76m underwater whilst holding her breath.
Gomez Uribe has broken 33 Colombian records, 24 South American records, six Pan-American records and three world records in total. She set her most recent world record, a constant weight with bi-fins plunge, in Kas, Turkey in 2018.
2. Marta Rodriguez — Pioneer Filmmaker
Marta Rodriguez is a Colombian woman worthy of recognition. She was born in the Colombian capital of Bogota in 1938 and has used her talent to create precious testimonies of the country’s history and traditions. Agrarian movements, trade unions, students, indigenous groups, and Afro-Colombian cultures are among the subjects of Rodriguez’s lens.
She has been in a number of European retrospectives, including Paris’s 100% Colombian Documentary in 2005, Barcelona’s Imago 2007 and 50-DOK Leipzig in Germany, where she was guest of honor.
3. Catalina Sandino — Oscar-nominated Star
Catalina Sandino is another excellent Colombian woman on this list. Following her appearance in Maria, Full of Grace, which won her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and a Silver Bear award for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival, the actress was catapulted to international stardom. She is still regarded as one of the best actresses of her time.
Sandino had roles in Paris Je T’aime and Fast Food Nation, as well as playing Hildebranda in Love In The Time of Cholera. She shot A Stranger in Paradise in Bangkok, Medeas and Home in Los Angeles, and Magic, Magic, in Chile all in the same year.
4. Johana Bahamón — Actress and Social Worker
Johana Bahamón is another shining example of the strength of the women of Colombia.
In 2013, this business executive and actress founded the Interno Theater Foundation, now known as the Interno Action Fund, trading the bright lights for social change.
Her goal was to use social business to change the lives of inmates.
Interno, one of Johana Bahamón’s most well-known projects, is one of the first restaurants in the world to operate within a public prison in Cartagena. In 2018, it was named one of TIME magazine’s “greatest locations in the world.”
Since then, Bahamón has spoken about her work at events such as the Women’s Society and Economics Forum in France, Woman True North in Mexico, and TedX Women Bogotá. Semana magazine named her one of Colombia’s “Women Who Contribute,” and she got Portfolio magazine’s 2017 “Contribution to the Community’’ award, as well as Ernst & Young’s “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” award.
5. Rosario Ballesteros — Successful Businesswoman
Rosario Ballesteros is widely regarded as one of the most successful businesswomen in the world. She is currently the CEO of VR Americas, a company that is at the forefront of immersive technology applications.
Ballesteros studied Political Science before focusing on finance and establishing Colombia’s first consulting firm in 2009. She went on to become the CEO of Business Creative Partners, a Silicon Valley-based big data and artificial intelligence firm.
She has concentrated the use of immersive technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, in the communications and advertising areas. She, however, believes that the sector’s greatest prospects lie in training and skills development, which will lower labor costs and hazards.
The Women Who Changed the Course of History
Colombia has many amazing women. From back then till now, it is home to many women who stand on their own feet and take matters into their own hands.
Throughout all these tough and challenging years, women have led the way.
- Cacica Gaitana — a woman who went on to lead an armed resistance against the Spanish invaders, at one point amassing an army of 10, 000 indegenous soldiers. This was during the time of colonization.
- Polonia — in times of slavery, the free Black woman led an army of 150 people to defeat a Spanish conquistador by the name of Pedro Ordóñez Ceballos. Described as a palenquera, Polonia was one of the many slaves who escaped and formed their own free towns.
- Manuela Beltrán — to fight back against an unfair tyranny against the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717, this woman mobilized a thousand commoners to protest the colonial government and tore the edict in two.
- Policarpa Salavarrieta — “La Pola”, as she was affectionately called, is remembered as a hero of the Colombian independence movement. During the war between the Spanish Royalists and the Revolutionary Forces, she allied with the latter and infiltrated as the enemy’s supposed seamstress.
- Felicita Campos — a brave woman who fought back against officials who came to steal her and other farmers’ lands back in 1819. As she fought to keep her home, she also organized fellow peasant farmers to resist large-scale landowners, sparking a lands rights movement that spread throughout the province.
- María Cano — a writer who became an activist. She called for the creation of a library that would be free and open to the public — this is considered her first act of activism. Shortly afterward, she demanded the liberation of jailed union members and mobilized against the death penalty and in favor of civil rights.
The Women Of Colombia
Colombia is a wonderful place full of history and culture. It’s women have and continue to represent the country’s finest traits.
With foundations set by its women trailblazers, and with the strong, talented, and motivated women of today, the future of Colombia is in good hands.
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