Norman Maurice Armitage

Norman Maurice Armitage (born 13 June 1945) is a Colombian businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the mayor of Cali, the third-largest city in Colombia, and the economic hub of Southwestern Colombia from 2016 to 2019.

This article is about the mayor. For the fencer, see Norman C. Armitage.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Armitage.
Maurice Armitage
Armitage in 2018
Mayor of Santiago de Cali
In office
1 January 2016 – 31 December 2019
Preceded byRodrigue Gerrero Velasco
Succeeded byJorge Iván Ospina
Personal details
Born (1945-06-13) June 13, 1945
Cali, Colombia
Political partyIndependent
Spouse(s)Patricia Tella Doronsorro
Alma materUniversity of Valle
University San Buenaventura
Profession
  • Entrepreneur
  • politician
WebsiteMaurice Armitage

Education and early career

Armitage studied Law at University, and then went onto work in steel mining. He bought his first company SIDOC (Siderúrgica de Occidente) which he still owns. He is known for distributing the profits of the company with its employees every three months.[1] Amirtage also owns the Ingenio del Ocidente which is an Agribusiness company whose main product is refined sugar and owns 3,000 hectares of land which is used for production.[2] Armitage is also a shareholder of Cementos San Marcos, and is a part of the board of directors of the Cali Chamber of Commerce and Fenalco Valle.

Social Work

Armitage is well known for his philanthropy and social work in the suburbs such as Siloé. He is a firm believer in the peace process to end the armed conflict in Colombia and previously volunteered to put his foundation to use to help destroy the weapons when the (M19) demobilised. All of the companies owned by Armitage split a share of the profits with their employees every 3 months, and he also advocates paying more than the standard minimum wage to his workers.

Mayor of Cali (2016-2019)

Peace in Colombia

Due to his past experience of being kidnapped, Armitage became more involved in charitable causes and organisations which sought to bring peace to Colombia. Subsequently when President Juan Manuel Santos announced to the world and the Colombian people that he was holding peace talks with the FARC in Havana, Cuba, Maurice Armitage then formed part of a group of victims who travelled to Havana to take part in the peace talks and help the Government.

Personal life

Armitage is married to Patricia Tello Dorronsoro and they have two daughters. Armitage's father was English, and his mother was from Antioquia.[3] Armitage was a cousins of former Colombian senator and politician, Esmeralda Arboleda Cadavid.

Kidnapping

Armitage has been kidnapped twice, the first time he was taken hostage was in 2002 by the 57th Front of the FARC and was held for 2 months. In 2008 he was again kidnapped, this time by local criminal gangs and was shortly released.

References
  1. S.A., El Pais. "¿Quién es Maurice Armitage, nuevo alcalde de Cali?" [Who is Maurice Armitage, the new mayor of Cali?] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 28 October 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  2. "El ingenio azucarero de Armitage – Las2orillas" [The Armitage Sugar Mill] (in Spanish). 19 October 2015.
  3. Armitage, Maurice (26 August 2014). "Entrevista en BOCAS: Maurice Armitage – Bocas – El Tiempo" [BOCAS interview: Maurice Armitage]. eltiempo.com (in Spanish). Interviewed by Amira Abultaif Kadamani. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016.
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