José Miguel Pey de Andrade

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José Miguel Pey y García de Andrade (b. March 11, 1763, Bogotá—August 17, 1838, Bogotá) was a Colombian statesman and soldier and a leader of the independence movement from Spain. He is sometimes considered the first president of Colombia. He was a centralist (not a federalist).

Pey was a Criollo (born in America), of a distinguished family. His father, Juan Francisco Pey, was an oidor (judge) of the Royal Audiencia of Bogotá. José Miguel Pey studied at the College of San Bartolomé, graduating as a lawyer in 1787.

Under Viceroy Antonio José Amar y Borbón, Pey was alcalde (mayor) of Bogotá at the time of the Cry of Independence (July 20, 1810). On that date an open town meeting chose a Supreme Governing Junta, with Pey as the vice-president. Viceroy Amar y Borbón was chosen president, but refused to preside over the Junta. As a consequence, that duty fell to Pey. He thus became the first Criollo to exercise executive power in the viceroyalty of New Granada. This Junta approved the Act of Independence, and Pey was one of the signers.

On July 25, 1810 Amar y Borbón was removed from the Supreme Junta and Pey became president in his own right. The following day the Junta recognized King Ferdinand VII, but not the Regency in Spain.

Pey led the government with prudence, mediating between the moderate and radical factions in the Junta and in the city. He was forced to order the arrest of the viceroy (August 13, 1810), but he was not in favor of this action, and soon had the viceroy moved secretly to Cartagena, where he went into exile.

On December 20, 1814, Pey was named governor of Cundinamarca, now occupied by Simon Bolívar and under federal control. On March 28, 1815, an executive triumvirate for the federation was established, with Pey as its president. He continued in this capacity until July 28.

He was again part of an executive triumvirate of the nation, from April 30, 1831 to May 5, 1831. He died in 1838 in Bogotá.