One of the most prestigious figures in this field who devoted his time to the tasks of spiritism research and who, despite the times in which he lived, was not afraid to define himself as a scholar of this discipline, was the distinguished personality Dr. Luis Zea Uribe, a distinguished physician who also held representative positions in national life. His great interest and love for just causes led him many times to raise his voice in the House of Representatives, fighting with fortitude and nobility for those indisputable rights of the citizen, his position as a doctrinaire liberal from which he served his country.

If we could fix a date of birth of Spiritism in our territory as a scientific milestone, we would have to do it from the stage in which this illustrious man gave himself fully to the experimental research process, using the acuteness and judgement that his own training as a doctor conferred on him.

In order to pay a just tribute of admiration to the man who did not hesitate to proclaim the reality of the spiritism phenomena, once he had entered into them and verified them rigorously, in spite of the persecutions suffered for this, both in his private and professional life and as a result of the religious fanaticism of our country at the beginning of the present century.

On 29 August 1872, in the town of Titiribí, department of Antioquia, a child was born in the home of Don Aureliano Zea Arango and his wife Paulina Uribe Otero, a boy who was to be named Luis.

He completed his first studies in 1887 in his hometown, and then went to high school at the Colegio del Rosario in Bogota. Once he had finished this, he entered the Faculty of Medicine at the National University in 1892, where he completed his studies and graduated with the title of Doctor of Surgery on 16 February 1898 with a thesis that was awarded a prize.

He exercised his profession with a true sense of apostolate and helped the needy, who were always his concern. He married Miss Clorinda Hernández Ospina at a very young age on 18 February 1898.

Two days after his graduation, the couple undertook a trip to Europe, where Dr. Luis Zea Uribe studied in various scientific centres and in 1900, France awarded him the title of "Official of Instruction of the National Academy of Medicine in Paris". After three years of absence, he returns to his homeland and there are many activities in which he stands out in the national life.

It is interesting to note a curious fact that occurred when he moved to Manizales in January 1906, where he stayed for three years with his family.

At that time he was carrying out studies on the Constellation of the Southern Cross, in a competition opened by the French Astronomical Society, and for that purpose he had ordered a telescope from Germany. With the difficulties of those times, it was sent from Bogota to that city and when he installed it on the balcony of his house, the people, associating it with his spiritist investigations, crowded around him throwing stones and shouting that those instruments were an object destined to observe the devil, being necessary the intervention of those who knew Doctor Luis Zea Uribe and esteemed him, so that the episode did not come to deplorable ends. He had not yet dedicated himself assiduously to the study of the spiritism phenomena and it is precisely there, in Manizales, where his dear friend Simón López, who was a determined spiritist, initiated him in these questions, to which he would dedicate the rest of his days with deep seriousness and analytical spirit.

Thus a Family Group was formed, presided over by Dr. Zea Uribe, who at first was sceptical and accepted nothing without verification, but had the good fortune to find in the somnambulistic mediumship of his wife, Clorinda, under the pseudonym of "Celina", the efficient instrument to go deeper into the most varied phenomena and to receive through her, conclusive proofs which led him to his convictions, in addition to the ample help of his Guides and Mentors, especially the spirit of his wife, the efficient instrument to go deeper into the most varied phenomena and to receive, through her, conclusive proofs that led him to his convictions, as well as the wide support of his Guides and Mentors, especially the spirit of the Spaniard Ramon de Infiesta, who silently supported the work he undertook. From the experiences made in these meetings, his prodigious and capable mind was steeped, and so little by little the truth opened up before him. An upright and well-balanced man, he did not shrink from the situation created by his new enquiries, nor from the censure of the people who tried to isolate him, for his spiritism became popularly known.

In 1921 he travelled to Europe in the company of his daughter Elvira, with the double purpose of studying and publishing his finished book "Mirando al Misterio", a compendium of his experiences and the fruit of his marvellous intelligence. Let us remember in passing that he had won the prize to: Competition opened by the French Astronomical Society, for his work on the Constellation of the Southern Cross and that therefore, in 1909 the Society had accredited him as a member of that society, awarding him a Diploma of Honour.

He personally met Camille Flammarion, of whom all spiritists are sufficiently informed, and as he was enjoying a short holiday on the Côte d'Azur, when he was notified of the arrival of the illustrious visitor, he went to Paris to meet and greet him. At the invitation of Dr. Gustave Geley, he also attended the experiences that were being carried out at the Metaphysical Institute in Paris concerning mediumistic phenomena, and in a solemn session he was awarded a diploma as a member of the Institute. The wealth of knowledge and experience he gathered during those memorable meetings increased the wealth of knowledge he already possessed.

On that occasion, Camille Flammarion gave Doña Elvira his book "Stella" with a dedication that reads: ‘from the astronomer to the star’, a copy of which she keeps among her most precious memories.

He also kept a present from Dr. Gustav Geley: it was a Buddha belonging to the collection of the Metapsychic Institute, about which there was a strange version that Buddhas that had been consecrated or belonged to Temples should not be given as gifts, because whoever did so would lose his life within ninety days. Coincidentally or not, three months after giving this Buddha as a gift, Dr. Gustav Geley died tragically in a plane crash. The news was communicated to Doctor Luis Zea Uribe by Camilo Flammarion and from then on this enigmatic Buddha accompanied its owner until her death, so as not to repeat history.

His book “Mirando al Misterio” (Looking into the Mystery) was translated into several languages and published in 1922. There are no copies of that edition left and it is very rare to find it nowadays.

One of his most notable public interventions was the one in which he questioned the Minister of Government on the occasion of the measures taken to prevent the Protestant Congress from meeting in the city of Medellín in 1925. On that memorable occasion, his words sanctioned the intolerant attitude of the House of Representatives to which he belonged, with the tribunicial eloquence that characterised him. He was excommunicated in Bogotá by Archbishop Bernardo Herrera Restrepo because of his advanced liberal ideas and for devoting himself at that time to the study of astronomy and Spiritism.

A momentous event takes place. The mother of the bishop of Bogota becomes seriously ill and is given up by the local doctors, who suggest, as a last hope, that she take the services of Doctor Luis Zea Uribe.

Due to the imminent seriousness of the patient, the bishop went to the prestigious doctor - his excommunicate - who generously undertook to treat her, setting some conditions: he would be allowed to select the personnel involved in the operation and the patient's food would be prepared at his home.

In this way, he wanted to avoid any risk of any attempt on the patient's life that might compromise him. The surgery was successful and the patient recovered, for which the bishop, very grateful and moved by the greatness of the baron's soul, offered, in addition to the payment of his fees, to lift the excommunication, to which Doctor Zea replied: "I have never thought of charging his Lordship a cent, and as for the excommunication, please do not take it away from me, it is the only thing I have".

Many were the qualities that adorned this illustrious compatriot. He was a man of integrity, an exemplary husband, who with his partner gave an example of a marriage closely united by love. From that union six children rejoiced the home: Elvira, Alicia, Germán, Amalia, Álvaro and Teresa. The bitter hours could not make a dent in that amicable family, nor the intrigues, nor the misunderstandings, because heaven gathered them together for a great task, before which the forces of evil found an invincible encirclement. This pioneer knew how to understand and respect the beliefs of all and to proclaim religious freedom: his vast culture and knowledge place him among the outstanding men of Colombia, however, simplicity and sympathy were his natural traits.

There were also many ways in which he put his qualities at the service of his contemporaries. He held the chair of Histology at the Faculty of Medicine in Bogota in 1910. He was also a professor of Bacteriology, filled a seat in the House of Representatives and in the Assembly of Cundinamarca he occupied a seat in 1916. He was appointed director of the Liberal Party in 1932, having founded the Casa Liberal (Liberal House) in 1927 with some co-partisans. The Colombian Government honoured him with meritorious posts such as National Director of Hygiene, and for the Interplanetary Congress that the United States Government convened in 1925, the name of Dr. Luis Zea Uribe was chosen among other illustrious compatriots.

The generous course of this life was threatened for the first time in 1924 by a sudden attack of angina. Dr. Luis Zea Uribe knew from his own diagnosis that by living under a special regime and care, he could extend the term of his life. His greatest wish was to study the phenomenon of death itself and he asked that lucidity would accompany him in this trance.

He never recanted his ideas, and when Monsignor Perdomo and Emilio de Brigard, who were seriously ill, went to visit him to administer the sacrament of confession at the invitation of a group of pious ladies from Bogota, with the kindness and understanding that always characterised him, he received Monsignor Perdomo and talked with him at length. When he left the sick man's room, he went in search of Monsignor Emilio de Brigard, who was waiting in the room, accompanied by the relatives of Doctor Zea Uribe, he said to him: "Doctor Luis Zea Uribe has not gone to confession and does not want to go to confession, but if I had ten priests in my diocese who possessed scriptures and knowledge of various religions, my task would be much easier".

On 24 April 1934, exactly ten years after that first attack of angina, death suddenly struck his heart. It was eleven o'clock at night: he realised the danger he was in and called to his family, telling them: "Run, it's death". He was given the injections and medicines that he had warned his people about as a preventive measure, but all to no avail. The task of this great soul was finished to the consternation and grief of his relatives. The sympathetic eyes of the father and husband, of the exemplary citizen, closed forever and his spirit shed that garment to enter the dimensions of Light that corresponded to him.

On his desk and in his own handwriting he had written that night, as was his custom, a sentence that summed up everything we could say. It was the sincere expression of his soul, which was not afraid to recognise immortality as a demonstrable fact and which he signed it: "Today, more than ever, I am convinced of survival!"