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Studied in Chile
He traveled to Chile to study at the American History Research Center of the University of Chile. -
Returned to Colombia
When he returned to Colombia, he became a professor at the University of the Andes where he began his studies and research based on indigenous censuses and the papers of the National Historical Archive of Bogotá. -
Some books he wrote
Wrote works on the encomiendas in Boyacá and Pamplona, entitled The Province of Tunja in the New Kingdom of Granada: social history essay (1539-1800) and Encomienda and population in the Province of Pamplona. -
Won a scholarship to study his PhD
Traveled to Paris thanks to a grant from the French government that allowed him to get closer to the French culture of which he was a great admirer. There he obtained a doctorate in the short time of a year and a half. -
His best known work
His best known work was his doctoral thesis entitled "Economie minière et société dans la Nouvelle Grenade, (1550-1717)". This work gave Colmenares worldwide recognition within Latin American colonial historiography. -
Arrives at the University of Valle
It is there that he spent most of his career as a researcher and teacher. He was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and later devoted himself to teaching and historical research. -
He was a great teacher
In the early 1970s, he was one of the few human sciences professors with postgraduate degrees abroad, who introduced new methods, approaches and perspectives to historical work in Colombian historiography. -
Invitations
Was visiting professor at Columbia University (1977) and Cambridge (1985). -
His legacy
He was a Colombian lawyer and historian, one of the initiators of the disciplinary phenomenon known as "New History." A new method in the management of data and historical documents.