José Gil Fortoul

President of Venezuela

25 November 1861 Barquisimeto, Venezuela

15 June 1943(1943-06-15) (81) Caracas, Venezuela

5 August 1913 – 19 April 1914

José Gil Fortoul (Barquisimeto, Lara, 25 November 1861 – Caracas, 15 June 1943) was a Venezuelan writer, historian, and politician, who was briefly the acting President of Venezuela. As a political scientist and legal scholar, he is closely identified with the movement of Venezuelan positivism. He was an ally of the dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, supporting his regime both politically and in his social and historical writing. In 1913 Fortoul was appointed provisional President of Venezuela, serving for less than a year.