Valencia Family

The Valencias are a Colombian family of Spanish origin, whose center of business and political influence is the city of Popayán, Cauca.

Origin & genealogy
The Valencia family descends from Pedro de Valencia y Aranda, a Spanish hidalgo. Due to their noble origins, they are one of the few family clans in Colombia that can be considered true aristocrats. The ties of this Valencian family extend from Bajo Cauca to the department of Antioquia, arriving from Popayán in the last third of the last century, the lords Mr. Francisco and Mr. Eladio Valencia Delgado, sons of Mr. José Rafael de Valencia and Mrs. Concepción Delgado, belonging to distinguished Payanes families.

They were married in Medellín with Mrs. Edelmira and Mrs. Virginia Botero Pardo, -daughters of Mr. José María Botero and Mrs. María Josefa Pardo (Mejia Arango, page 457, 458). Its members include a former president of the country -Guillermo León-, and a senator of the republic, Paloma, granddaughter of Guillermo León, as well as politicians, businessmen, writers and renowned men and women in Colombia.

The descendants of the Valencia Family in Antioquia (Marinilla, Sonson and Abejorra) belong to Captain Juan Valencia Ramirez de la Cerda who began to appear at the time of the conquest of Remedios, Antioquia being a native of the Kingdoms of Spain. Said information is confirmed by Captain Hoyos, a neighbor of Remedios Natural of the Kingdoms of Spain and recorded by the chroniclers.

Notable members

 * Pedro de Valencia y Aranda (1678-1740)ː Spanish nobleman, married to María Josefa Fernández from New Granada, who was descended from Francisco de Mosquera.
 * Pedro Agustin of Valencia (1710-1788). Granada banker, founder of the Popayán Mint. Father of Francisco de Valencia.
 * José Francisco de Valencia y Sáenz del Pontón (1743-1823)ː First Count of Casa Valencia. Uncle of Marcelino and Santiago Arroyo and Valencia.
 * Marcelino (Perez de) Arroyo and Valencia (1764-1833). Priest and architect from Granada.
 * Santiago Arroyo and Valencia (1773-1854). Hero of the Independence of New Granada.
 * Joaquin Valencia Quijano (1784). Colombian businessman. Father of Guillermo Valencia Castillo.
 * Guillermo Valencia Castillo (1873-1943). Colombian politician and poet. Candidate for the presidency for the Conservative Party. Father of Guillermo León, Álvaro Pío and Josefina Valencia.
 * Guillermo Leon Valencia Munoz (1909-1971). Colombian politician. President of Colombia between 1962 and 1966. Married to Susana López and father of Pedro Felipe, Diana, Alma and Ignacio Valencia López.
 * Josefina Valencia Munoz (1913-1991). Politician and female activist. Minister of Education between 1956 and 1957.
 * Alvaro Pio Valencia Muñoz (1919-1998). Colombian politician and diplomat. Promoter of Marxism in Colombia.
 * Pedro Felipe Valencia Lopez (1931-2000). Colombian politician, agronomist and diplomat.
 * Aurelio Iragorri Valencia (b. 1966). Colombian politician. Senator and Minister of Colombia. Son of the politician Aurelio Iragorri Hormanza and Diana Valencia López.
 * Ignacio Valencia López ː Colombian politician. Former Senator of the Republic. Married to Dorotea Laserna, granddaughter of Mario Laserna Pinzón, founder of the Universidad de los Andes.
 * Pedro Agustín Valencia Laserna Colombian politician and diplomat. Consul General of Colombia in Miami, United States, during the government of Iván Duque.
 * Cayetana Valencia Laserna: Wife of journalist Juan Carlos Pastrana, son of Misael Pastrana and brother of Andrés Pastrana.
 * Paloma Valencia Laserna (b. 1978) ː Colombian politician, writer and journalist from the Universidad de los Andes. She is married to the Colombian doctor Tomás Rodríguez Barraquer, son of the Colombian doctor Carmen Barraquer Coll, grandson of the Spanish doctor José Barraquer, founder of the Barraquer Clinic, and great-grandson of the Spanish ophthalmologist Ignacio Barraquer.