The pioneering scientific endeavor and contributions of José María González Benito (1843-1903), the first Colombian modern astronomer

Astronomical interest within the current Colombian territory has its roots in the Botanical Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada (1783-1813), which stimulated the creation of an astronomical observatory in 1803, the first one established in the New World to pursue systematic observations and meteorological studies. After the death in 1816 of its first director, Francisco José de Caldas (1768-1816), during the convulsive independence period, no major astronomical observations were made for decades, with few exceptions. In this work, we delve into the contributions of the astronomer José María González Benito (1843-1903), the main reactivator of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional de Colombia in the second half of the 19th century focusing on his pioneering efforts that draw worldwide attention to the national observatory and to his own private observatory.González Benito stands out as one of the figures most committed to the development of astronomyin the country and the most renowned Colombian in the international astronomical research sceneof his time.