Business: Colombia
Lucio Chiquito Caicedo, a civil engineer who helped create Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), the city’s public power, water and gas utility, has died at 110, according to El Colombiano. The Medellín daily published the news on Friday 13 November 2026.
Key Facts
—Who. Lucio Chiquito Caicedo, civil engineer and EPM co-founder, died at 110.
—Born. He was born in Cali on 22 May 1916 and graduated in civil engineering in 1941.
—Legacy. He helped create EPM in 1955 and helped found Integral, Sedic, Camacol and an engineering school.
—Late career. At 104 he submitted a doctoral thesis to the University of Manchester.
A Career Built on Water and Power
Chiquito studied civil engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Medellín, graduating in 1941, then won a scholarship from the British Council, the UK’s cultural relations body, to the University of Manchester, where he earned a master’s degree in 1947, El Colombiano reports. Back in Colombia he served as chief engineer on the Piedras Blancas dam.
El Colombiano says he took part in creating EPM in 1955 and, in his own account, the water inventories that followed helped build 26 hydroelectric power stations, among them Guadalupe, Guatapé and San Carlos. The same year he and José Tejada founded Integral, an engineering consultancy.
Institutions He Helped Found
He also helped found Camacol, the construction chamber, in 1958, Sedic in 1971 and the Escuela de Ingeniería de Antioquia, a Medellín engineering school, in 1978, according to the newspaper. In 2023 he received the Escudo de Antioquia in gold, the regional government’s honour.
In 2020, at 104, he finished a doctoral thesis on the best use of a river’s water for power, irrigation and storage and sent it to Manchester. Our report on EPM’s gas supply shows how the utility he helped found still shapes daily life; more is on our Colombia news page.
What Is Not Known
The report we reviewed does not give the cause of death or funeral arrangements. Only El Colombiano had published the news when we checked.
What It Means for You
EPM, owned by the municipality of Medellín, is one of Colombia’s largest utilities, so its founders’ history is part of the country’s infrastructure story. This is an obituary and carries no investment relevance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Lucio Chiquito Caicedo?
He was a Colombian civil engineer born in Cali in 1916 who took part in creating Empresas Públicas de Medellín in 1955. El Colombiano reports that he died at 110.
What is EPM?
EPM, Empresas Públicas de Medellín, is the public utility of Medellín that provides power, water and gas services. It was created in 1955.
Sources: El Colombiano, obituary of Lucio Chiquito Caicedo, 13 November 2026; El Colombiano interviews with him; Gerontology Research Group, a body that validates extreme-age cases, notice of his 110th birthday, 22 May 2026.
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