Eduardo Lemaitre

Eduardo Lemaitre Román (17 September 1914 - 25 November 1994) was a prominent historian, writer, journalist and politician who lived in Cartagena, Colombia. He held the positions of Representative, Senator (1950) and Governor (1962) of Colombia's Bolivar department. He also served as Ambassador to UNESCO.

Biography He graduated from El Rosario University (Colegio del Rosario, Bogotá), acquired his doctorate degree in political law from National University of Colombia (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá) and further pursued specialization in administrative law on Sorbonne (La Sorbonne, Paris) and in Hispanic studies on Universidad Central de Madrid (since 1970 called Complutense University of Madrid).

He was acting president of the History Academy of Cartagena and corresponding member of various Colombian and foreign academies, including the Colombian Academy of History. He had been rector of the University of Cartagena 1954-57 and professor of human studies at the University of the Andes in Bogotá. In administrative field, Lemaitre held important positions in private companies and his own family firm (Daniel Lemaitre & asc.) or founded by him as Gráficas El Faro y otras. Cartagena colonial (1973) La bolsa o la vida, cuatro agresiones imperialistas contra Colombia (1974) Cartagena de Indias (1976) Epistolario de Rafael Núnez con Miguel Antonio Caro (1977) Núnez y su leyenda negra (1977) Breve historia de Cartagena 1501-1901 (1979) Bolívar, de Cartagena a Santa Marta (1980) Historia del Canal del Dique: sus peripecias y vicisitudes (1982) Autógrafos de varias personas de gran distinción y elevado carácter oficial (1983) El general Juan José Nieto y su época (1983) Historia general de Cartagena (1983) Contra viento y marea. La lucha de Rafael Núnez por el poder (1990)

Plays Eduardo Lemaitre's writing also extended beyond histories. He wrote theatrical plays, which include:

La aventura de don Melón y dona Endrina (1961), inspired by texts from the “El Libro del Buen Amor” (~1330) (transl.“Book about pleasant passions”) from Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita, and its imitation and one of the greatest works of Spanish literature, tragicomedy “La Celestina” (1499) from Fernando de Rojas which has premiered at theater Colón por la Cooperativa de Artistas La Carreta (aka.Teatro Colon) directed by Bernardo Romero Lozano, during the theatrical festival same year. Iphigenia (1966), based on novel from Venezuelan writer Teresa de la Parra of the same name (Iphigenia: Diary of a young lady who wrote because she was bored (1924)), and performed by group of artists from National Television, first in Cartagena and then at the Teatro Colon.

His plays were written and performed during the 1960s, which was period of experimental theater, avant garde student movement at all levels, and especially inside theater. Lemaitre therefore considered that country has entered stage for theatrical closure, as the modern avantgarde theater is "very complicated" and only a small minority could understand "its psychological and literary subtlety". After its release Iphigenia was referred as one "elementary" piece, written by a "bourgeois for bourgeois", which doesn't "raises pathological concerns". Additionally, Lemaitre wrote for television ten scripts about Colombian historical topics, produced under the name "Revivamos nuestra historia" (transl. "Relive our history"). This program was aired by his programadora Producciones Eduardo Lemaitre with the production assistance of Promec Televisión.