Felipe Benigno Molas López (10 July 1901 – 17 November 1954) was 39th President of Paraguay from February 27, 1949 – September 10, 1949, when he resigned. Life Early life Born in 1901 in Yuty, Caazapá Department. Once he completed high school, he pursued Dentistry in Paris. He obtained in Bordeaux a specialization in implant, all new to medical science of the early twentieth century, becoming one of the firsts Paraguayans to get a degree in that field. Chaco War He served in the war with Bolivia where he reached the rank of captain of Health. In the postwar, he took active participation in drawing up plans for the installation of the Faculty of Dentistry at the National University which was located in the previous residence of former president José P. Guggiari. He practiced a successful career but was stopped by attracting the magnetism of politics, which Paraguayans from all scales feel so much affection for. He became a member of the Colorado Party in his early twenties. The party, then in the opposition, split in 1927, facing a proposal of the Liberal government, headed by president Eligio Ayala. Ayala wanted the Colorados to participate in the drafting of a new electoral law. It was his intention to make sure that both parties should participate in the upcoming election for congress. This caused a split in the Colorado Party amongst the "eleccionistas" (electionists), who accepted the offer, and the "abstencionistas" (abstentionists), who wanted a stronger and radical opposition against the government. Molas joined to the last group and became a close aide to their leader, former president Pedro P. Peña. Civil Service On February 21, 1936, he assumed as the Mayor of Asuncion for a short period. His brilliant talents of scientific and public man became the leading figure in the national political scene, far complex and anarchic. In 1948 he participated in the ministry of Education in the fleeting mandate of the president Juan Manuel Frutos and then in the mandate of Juan Natalicio González. With the assumption of the chairmanship of General Raimundo Rolón, Molas Lopez retained his ministry until January 30, 1949. As the country was subjected to a one-party regime, February 15 of the same year, by the decision of the Board of Colorado Party, gathered in Convention he got the possibility for the implementation of the Statute of Party and the appointment of Dr. Felipe