| Manuel Ancízar Basterra | |
| Order: | 4th |
| Office: | Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Granadine Confederation |
| Term Start: | 23 November 1861 |
| Term End: | 1 December 1862 |
| President: | Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera y Arboleda |
| Predecessor: | José María Rojas Garrido |
| Successor: | José María Rojas Garrido |
| Order2: | 2nd |
| Office2: | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Colombia to Venezuela |
| Term Start2: | 1846 |
| Term End2: | 1846 |
| President2: | Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera y Arboleda |
| Predecessor2: | Lino de Pombo O'Donell |
| Successor2: | Antonio María Pradilla Rueda |
| Birth Name: | Manuel Esteban Ancízar Basterra |
| Birth Date: | 25 December 1812 |
| Birth Place: | Bogotá, Cundinamarca |
| Death Place: | Bogotá, Cundinamarca, United States of Colombia |
| Restingplace: | Central Cemetery of Bogotá |
| Nationality: | Colombian |
| Party: | Liberal |
| Spouse: | Agripina Samper Agudelo (1857—1882) |
| Alma Mater: | University of Havana |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Manuel Ancízar | |
| Pseudonym: | Alpha |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Period: | 1845—1882 |
| Genre: | non-fiction, journalism |
| Subject: | Philosophy; Geography, ethnography, and culture of Colombia |
| Notableworks: | Peregrinación del Alpha por las provincias del norte de La Nueva Granada |
| Portaldisp: | yes |
Manuel Esteban Ancízar Basterra (25 December 1812 — 21 May 1882) was a Colombian lawyer, writer, and journalist. He founded a publishing house and a newspaper before joining the Chorographic Commission in 1850.[1] He also served as the 4th Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Granadine Confederation, and as the first president of the National University of Colombia.[1]
Manuel Esteban was born on 25 December 1812 in Fontibon, Bogotá to José Francisco Ancízar y Zabaleta, Spaniard native of Navarre, and Juana Bernarda Basterra y Abaurrea, Spaniard native of Biscay. In 1819 his father, who had served as Corregidor of Zipaquirá under the Viceroy of New Granada, Juan José de Sámano y Uribarri; during the time of the Reconquista, was forced to flee the capital when the Spanish forces fell at the Battle of Boyacá and the victorious forces of General Simón Bolívar entered the capital. The family arrived in Cartagena de Indias, three of Manuel's siblings died in the arduous journey; in 1821 they had to flee again when this Spanish bastion fell to the forces of Admiral José Prudencio Padilla López. The Ancízar Basterra family landed this time in Cuba, a safe Spanish colony, where they remained under much impoverished circumstances as refugees; his mother and his only remaining sibling died few years after. In 1832 he graduated from the University of Saint Jerome in Civil Law, and two years later received his degree in Canon Law. On 4 July 1857 he married Agripina Samper Agudelo, sister of José María and Miguel Samper Agudelo, both writers and prominent politicians in Colombia; together they had five children: Roberto, Pablo, Inés, Jorge, and Manuel.[2]