Héctor Velázquez (physician)

Héctor Velázquez
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay
In office
25 November 1894 – 9 June 1895
Preceded byVenancio Víctor López
Succeeded byJosé Segundo Decoud
In office
25 October 1910 – 17 January 1911
Preceded byManuel Gondra
Succeeded byCecilio Báez

Héctor Velázquez (1864–1945) was a Paraguayan physician, diplomat and educator. He was the Universidad Nacional de Asunción's first Paraguayan dean, and he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during Juan Bautista Egusquiza's government. He was also Paraguay's first ophthalmologist ever.

Biography

Early life and studies

Velázquez was born in Asunción in 1864 to Cantalicia Velázquez and an unknown father. The first in his class in the Colegio Nacional, he was given a scholarship by the government to study medicine in the University of Buenos Aires' Medical School.[1]

Professional life

After he'd returned to Paraguay, where he was the first practitioner of ophthalmology in the country ever,[1] he was made dean of the Universidad Nacional de Asunción, a position he held between April 1891 and February 1893, being merely 27 years old when he took the job.[2] A year after leaving that post, he became part of General Juan Bautista Egusquiza's cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs.[1]

In 1895, he left the cabinet to make way for veteran diplomat José Segundo Decoud. Egusquiza in compensation gave him the post of ambassador plenipotentiary in Washington D.C..[1] He would, in 1910, once again occupy the Ministry for close to three months.[3]

In 1898 he was made dean of the Universidad Nacional de Asunción's medical school. It had been closed since 1890, so he had to reorganize its faculty.[1]

He died in 1945.[1]

Honours

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f Benítez 1986.
  2. ^ "Historia". www.una.py. Universidad Nacional de Asunción. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  3. ^ "Listado de Ex-Cancilleres". mre.gov.py. Archived from the original on 25 August 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  4. ^ Sesiones del período legislativo del año 1901

Sources

  • Benítez, Luis (1986). Breve historia de grandes hombres. Industrial Gráf. Comuneros.
  • Warren, H.G. (1985). Rebirth of the Paraguayan Republic: The First Colorado Era, 1878–1904. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 9780822976370.