My friend and colleague Caroline Williams, who has died aged 57 after a short illness, was a senior lecturer in Latin American history at the University of Bristol. A much-loved and respected teacher, research supervisor and colleague, she was also an award-winning scholar.

Caroline was born in Argentina, the third of the four children of Erik Hansen, a metallurgist from Cardiff, and his wife, Tricia (nee Gorman), a nurse. She was 14 when the military junta seized power in 1976. This provoked in her a profound and critical interest in both national and global politics and a lifelong concern for human rights.

After leaving San Luis school, Buenos Aires, Caroline travelled to the UK in 1979. Studying at the University of Warwick from 1982, she took a degree in comparative American studies, then a PhD on the interactions of indigenous peoples with Spanish colonists in the contested frontier region of colonial Colombia. Her groundbreaking monograph Between Resistance and Adaptation: Indigenous Peoples and the Colonisation of the Chocó, 1510-1753 (2004) was acclaimed for its meticulous research and nuanced insights.

At Warwick Caroline met Dr Richard Williams, a sonic designer, systems analyst and social psychologist, whom she married in 1991.

Following a postdoctoral fellowship at University College London, during which she produced a second monograph, on the 19th-century economic history of the Channel Islands, in 1994 Caroline joined the University of Bristol’s Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, where she successfully combined academic and administrative responsibilities, gaining a reputation as a judicious and principled manager.

Caroline enjoyed collaborative projects, including a co-authored monograph (in progress) on three generations of a Bristol/Bath family resident in the Caribbean, and an investigation, with the university’s earth scientists, into the impact of volcanic eruptions and weather-related hazards on colonial societies.

An active member of the Society for Latin American Studies, Caroline was elected its president for 2013-15. In 2015 she was awarded the Tibesar prize of the Conference on Latin American History for her article Living Between Empires: Diplomacy and Politics in the Late Eighteenth-Century Mosquitia.

Elegant and witty, Caroline radiated kindness and good humour; nothing was too much trouble, and many benefited from her empathetic and loving support. She delighted especially in the company of her niece, nephews and godchildren.

Caroline is survived by Richard, her sisters, Stephanie and Felicity, and brother, Nick.