Guillermo Abadía Morales


Guillermo Abadía Morales was a Colombian linguist, academic, anthropologist, folklore researcher and indigenous language expert. Morales was one of the first to champion the study of indigenous languages in Colombia.
In 1934, Abadía Morales began living with seventeen separate indigenous Colombian tribes for ten years. Each of the tribes he observed represented a different language family within the country. Adabia Morales was able to classify the languages of 105 indigenous peoples into nine language families. He developed the "Abadia Classification" system to group the families by geographic distribution within Colombia.
Abadía Morales was the author of over twenty-five books on linguistics, folklore, and identity. His best known work, Compendio General de Folclor has sold more than 40,000 copies since it was first published in 1970. Compendio is now widely used as a social science textbook in Colombia. He also created a series of educational broadcast focusing on folklore, which have been broadcast on Radiodifusora Nacional de Colombia.
Abadia Morales served as the folklore coordinator for the Musical Documentation Center at the Colombian Culture Institute, secretary of the National Folklore Board, and professor and head of the Center for Folklore Studies at the National University of Colombia.
Guillermo Abadía Morales died of natural causes on 21 January 2010 at the age of 97.

Early life and education

Abadia was born in Santa Fe de Bogota in 1912. In 1914, his Family moved to the neighboring town of Sopo, Colombia, only to return to Bogota in 1919. He completed his high school education at . After which he enrolled at the where he spent five years studying medicine and pharmacy. During this period, he participated in an educational vaccination program in the jungles of the Choco region. It is here that he began to familiarize himself with the traditional cultures of Colombia.

Research in Colombia

From 1934-1944 Abadia spent 10 years studying the language systems of indigenous Colombian populations. As a result of this work, he managed to classify 105 indigenous populations into nine language families. This system became known as the “Abadia Classification”.

Professional career

Abadia Morales joined the faculty at the as a professor of the conservation of music. He kept this post for 22 years and later became the director of the Center for Folkloric Studies. He also helped to found El Museo Organolico de Colombia and the Instituto Colombiano de Cultura. In addition to his work in academia, Abadia Morales was the first broadcaster for a radio program HJN which eventually became Radiodifusora Nacional de Colombia. Here he helped create weekly programs that played and discussed the importance of Colombian oral history and music In addition to writing prolifically about Colombia folklore and music, he also wrote extensively about regional variations in Colombian dance.
As mentioned, Abadia Morales wrote over 25 books that covered the diversity of Colombian music, folklore, and issues surrounding identity. The most popular of which is his . This book has remained in print for over 40 years.

Works