Manuel Esteban Ancízar Basterra (25 December 1812 – 21 May 1882) was a Colombian lawyer, writer, and journalist.

[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.

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.

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.