Héctor Abad Gómez

== Early life and education ==

== Early life and education ==

Héctor Abad Gómez was born in 1921 in [[Jericó, Antioquia|Jericó]], [[Antioquia Department]], as the eldest of five children. His father was a [[merchant]] and [[amateur]] [[journalist]] who held [[Liberalism|liberal]] ideas. The family relocated to [[Sevilla, Valle del Cauca|Seville, Valle del Cauca]] during the [[Colombian economy and politics 1929–58|1930s crisis]] in Colombia. In Seville, Abad attended the General Santander Educational Institution whose director was [[José María Velasco Ibarra]], former [[President of Ecuador]] who was in exile in Colombia. Velasco Ibarra greatly influenced Abad, who was exposed to European ideas. He first social activist work was in 1938 when he organised a strike with five students against [[Admission exam|admission exams]] for entrance into university. At 18 years old, his family moved to Medellín, just north of Jericó, where Abad entered the School of Medicine at the [[University of Antioquia]] (UdeA). He had become interested in social medicine due to him witnessing the death of children from [[diphtheria]].{{Cite journal |last1=Guerrero-Velasco |first1=Rodrigo |last2=Apráez-Ippolito |first2=Giovanni |date=2022-01-31 |title=Héctor Abad-Gómez (1921-1987): médico, educador y defensor de los derechos humanos |url=https://www.scielosp.org/article/gs/2021.v35n5/495-498/ |journal=Gaceta Sanitaria |language=es |volume=35 |issue=5 |pages=495–498 |doi=10.1016/j.gaceta.2020.02.003 |pmid=32349913 |issn=0213-9111|doi-access=free }}

Héctor Abad Gómez was born in 1921 in [[Jericó, Antioquia|Jericó]], [[Antioquia]], as the eldest of five children. His father was a [[merchant]] and [[amateur]] [[journalist]] who held [[Liberalism|liberal]] ideas. The family relocated to [[Sevilla, Valle del Cauca|Seville, Valle del Cauca]] during the [[Colombian economy and politics 1929–58|1930s crisis]] in Colombia. In Seville, Abad attended the General Santander Educational Institution whose director was [[José María Velasco Ibarra]], former [[President of Ecuador]] who was in exile in Colombia. Velasco Ibarra greatly influenced Abad, who was exposed to European ideas. He first social activist work was in 1938 when he organised a strike with five students against [[Admission exam|admission exams]] for entrance into university. At 18 years old, his family moved to Medellín, just north of Jericó, where Abad entered the School of Medicine at the [[University of Antioquia]] (UdeA). He had become interested in social medicine due to him witnessing the death of children from [[diphtheria]].{{Cite journal |last1=Guerrero-Velasco |first1=Rodrigo |last2=Apráez-Ippolito |first2=Giovanni |date=2022-01-31 |title=Héctor Abad-Gómez (1921-1987): médico, educador y defensor de los derechos humanos |url=https://www.scielosp.org/article/gs/2021.v35n5/495-498/ |journal=Gaceta Sanitaria |language=es |volume=35 |issue=5 |pages=495–498 |doi=10.1016/j.gaceta.2020.02.003 |pmid=32349913 |issn=0213-9111|doi-access=free }}

As a student since secondary school, Abad worked as a journalist for the literary magazine ''Simiente''. As a student at UdeA, he founded with several other classmates the [[student newspaper]] ''U-235'' in 1945. His advocacy for improved healthcare led to him being branded a "[[Communism|communist]]". After the death of a classmate and neighbours from [[typhoid fever]], Abad initiated a debate on Colombia's poor water quality through ''U-235.'' This led to opening a campaign for improved water quality with the municipal council. The topic of water quality was used in his undergraduate thesis "Some considerations on Public Health in the Department of Antioquia" ({{langx|es|Algunas consideraciones sobre la Salud Pública en el Departamento de Antioquia|links=no}}). Abad pursued further education in the [[United States]] at the [[University of Minnesota]], where he specialised in public health and received his [[Master of Public Health]] in 1948.{{Cite web |last=Gil |first=Jovani Escobar |date=2020-09-20 |title=Diez reflexiones de Héctor Abad Gómez sobre la justicia social |url=https://diariodepaz.com/2020/09/19/diez-reflexiones-hector-abad-gomez/ |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=Diario de Paz Colombia |language=es}}

As a student since secondary school, Abad worked as a journalist for the literary magazine ''Simiente''. As a student at UdeA, he founded with several other classmates the [[student newspaper]] ''U-235'' in 1945. His advocacy for improved healthcare led to him being branded a "[[Communism|communist]]". After the death of a classmate and neighbours from [[typhoid fever]], Abad initiated a debate on Colombia's poor water quality through ''U-235.'' This led to opening a campaign for improved water quality with the municipal council. The topic of water quality was used in his undergraduate thesis "Some considerations on Public Health in the Department of Antioquia" ({{langx|es|Algunas consideraciones sobre la Salud Pública en el Departamento de Antioquia|links=no}}). Abad pursued further education in the [[United States]] at the [[University of Minnesota]], where he specialised in public health and received his [[Master of Public Health]] in 1948.{{Cite web |last=Gil |first=Jovani Escobar |date=2020-09-20 |title=Diez reflexiones de Héctor Abad Gómez sobre la justicia social |url=https://diariodepaz.com/2020/09/19/diez-reflexiones-hector-abad-gomez/ |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=Diario de Paz Colombia |language=es}}