José Matías Delgado y de León

José Matías Delgado y de León (born February 2, 1767 in San Salvador ; † November 12, 1832 ibid) was the founder of El Salvador , a Catholic priest, prócer and doctor .

He was the leader of the independence movement in El Salvador from the Spanish colonial power. From November 28, 1821 to February 9, 1823 he was the President of the Constituent Assembly for Central America, which was held in Guatemala City .

Life

His parents were María Ana de León and Pedro Delgado. His brothers were Juan and Miguel, who were also independence champions. He studied at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala and then went to Spain.

He was in the Tridentino and Ascensión de Nuestra Señora seminary and gave revision courses for lawyers for the Real Audiencia in Spain.

From August 12, 1797 he was back in El Salvador and was rector of the curia, provincial rector, church judge and last local commissioner of the court of the Holy See. He did intensive pastoral care and in 1808 he initiated the reconstruction work on the old parish church of San Salvador, today's Iglesia del Rosario , which was completed decades later.

independence movement

With his nephew Manuel José Arce y Fagoaga and others he organized a revolt on November 5, 1811, as a sign of the uprising he rang the church bells of La Merced . The uprising began with the robbery of 3,000 weapons and money from the royal treasury. The Corregidor intendente, Antonio Basilio Gutiérrez de Ulloa, like most royal officials, withdrew. The insurgents were able to hold San Salvador for almost a month before they were defeated by the colonial forces.

In 1813 he was elected a member of parliament for the province of El Salvador in Guatemala City, where he worked as rector of the Colegio Seminario o Tridentino . On the instructions of the Archbishop of Guatemala Francisco Ramón Valentín de Casaus y Torres, he was withdrawn from there, which is why he did not take part in the uprising in January 1814.

In 1820 he was re-elected as a member of parliament and on September 15, 1821 was a co-signer of the Declaration of Independence.

On November 28, 1821 he was promoted from MP to Supremo Director of the Province of San Salvador (which was then used synonymously for El Salvador).

Separation from Guatemala

When the Central American government voted for the annexation by the Mexican Empire, Delgado was against. As Supremo Director of the Province of San Salvador, he led the protests against the annexation by the Mexican Empire under Agustín de Itúrbide on January 11, 1822 . On January 11, 1822, El Salvador separated from Guatemala in order not to be annexed by Mexico. In response, San Salvador was attacked from April 1822 to February 9, 1823 by troops from San Miguel, El Salvador, and Mexico.

In April 1822, Guatemalan troops under the command of Manuel Arzú , Santa Ana (El Salvador) , occupied Sonsonate . On June 3, 1822, Arzú entered San Salvador and reached Plaza Major (now Plaza Libertad), which involved a nine-hour battle and many losses. The Guatemalan troops set fire to houses and looted before they left.

Manuel José Arce y Fagoaga commanded the defenders of San Salvador. On June 6th, 1822, Santa Ana and later Ahuachpan and Sonsonate were retaken by Salvadoran troops .

In December 1822, Vicente Filisola , in Guatemala, set out for San Salvador. He entered the city on February 9, 1823, he declared that he would respect the people and the movement of goods and annexed El Salvador for Mexico, which ended the government of José Matías Delgado.

Delgado had taken diplomatic steps to defend his government. This included applying for a ceasefire with Vicente Filisola and sending a delegation to Washington DC on December 2, 1822 with the aim of making the province of El Salvador part of the United States of America.

After the fall of the Mexican emperor, Delgado was elected as a member of the constituent assembly of the Provincias Unidas del Centro de América , an assembly that met in Guatemala on June 24, 1823 and elected Delgado president.

He collected the financial means with which the first official Salvadoran press was bought in Guatemala. On this, Semanario político-mercantil de San Salvador, the first newspaper from El Salvador, which appeared on July 31, 1824, was printed.

His contemporaries described him as a restlessly lively, eloquent lecturer of spirited speeches and prayers, committed to patriotism, strictly oriented towards customs, cunning, ambitious, fearless, strong and fair in his decisions and judgments. Letters, manifestos, tirades, sermons and other documents received from him do not show a polished style, but rather sober, clear and simple language.

On 5 May 1824 he was of Mariano Prado Baca and later Juan Vicente Villacorta Díaz in San Salvador appointed bishop. This investiture was not recognized by the church and led to violent hostility on the part of the Archbishop of Guatemala , to whose diocese San Salvador belongs, and the Holy See.

Delgado died on November 12, 1832 at 8:30 p.m. local time. He was buried at the foot of the main altar of the parish church of San Salvador after a move from the Plaza Mayor (now Plaza Libertad ).

In December 1878, Rafael Reyes published the first biography about Delgado, other biographers were: Francisco Gavidia, Carlos Meléndez Chaverri, Ramón López Jiménez, Rodolfo Barón Castro, José Salvador Guandique, Jorge Lardé y Larín.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Iglesia El Rosario interior

predecessor	Office	successor
Pedro Barrier	Head of State of the Province of El Salvador November 28, 1821 - February 9, 1823	Vicente Filísola