Malcolm Deas was a pioneering historian of Latin America who taught at Oxford University from the 1960s until his retirement in 2008. Starting with his ICWA fellowship in 1964 to 1965, he began visiting and studying Colombia, eventually establishing himself as one of the leading authorities on the country’s historiography. At Oxford’s St. Antony’s College, he was director of the Latin American Centre and instrumental in building the university’s Latin American collections. He was also an adviser to the Colombian presidents Álvaro Uribe and César Gaviria, for whom he helped design policies to reduce the country’s notorious violence. Malcolm was author of many essays and articles and several books, including Intercambios violentos and Vida y opiniones de Mr William Wills. Among his many distinctions and honorary degrees, he was awarded Colombia’s highest honor, the Cruz de Boyacá, and an OBE by the British queen. He was given Colombian citizenship in 2008.