José Gil Fortoul (25 November 1861, in Barquisimeto, Lara – 15 June 1943, in Caracas) was a Venezuelan writer, historian, and politician, who was briefly the acting president of Venezuela.

[2] He grew up and was educated in El Tocuyo, earning a Bachelor of Philosophy from the school La Concordia on 2 July 1880, under the supervision of Egidio Montesinos (es).

[2] While he was a student there, Fortoul collaborated with Adolf Ernst on the newspaper La Opinion, where he published columns that caused controversies with the ecclesiastic authorities.

[2] Fortoul was a participant in the Hague Convention of 1907, and was the focus of a public controversy when he opposed a government order to withdraw from the conference in objection to a motion on the terms of international debts.

[3] Fortoul is remembered as a core exponent of the movement, both in terms of promoting modernism in Venezuela and in his close association with an authoritarian regime.