Intellectual migration, industrialization, and educational reform in Colombia: Juan Luis Consuegra de la Cruz’s case

Abstract

This paper remarks the noteworthy role of the European intellectual migration of the first decades of the 20th century in the configuration of higher education linked to industry in Antioquia, Colombia. We use as a case study the Spanish chemical and industrial engineer Juan Luis Consuegra de la Cruz, who was the first dean of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, and one of the personalities who contributed to the advancement of governmental entities focused on economic and social development in Colombia. The primary sources used to reconstruct the case derive from historical archives, mainly university archives, and the press of the time. Studies on the impact and consequences of migratory phenomenon on the Colombia industrialization, and particularly in Antioquia, are scarce. The obtained results are consistent with the hypothesis about the close relationship between intellectual migration, educational reforms, and industrialization in Latin America during the period under review.