Melchor Ocampo (politician)
Melchor Ocampo (full name José Telésforo Juan Nepomuceno Melchor de la Santísima Trinidad Ocampo Tapia ; born January 5, 1814 in Maravatío , Michoacán ; † June 3, 1861 in Tepeji del Río , Hidalgo ) was a Mexican lawyer, naturalist and politician in the middle 19th century.
Life
Melchor Ocampo was a mestizo by birth; he was exposed at the gate of the hacienda to the widow Tapia, who raised him like her own son and appointed him as her heir. He studied at the Catholic Seminary in Morelia , Michoacán, and later in Mexico City . From 1833 he worked in a law firm, but soon devoted himself to his possessions. In the years 1840/41 he took a trip to France, where he dealt intensively with the ideals of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution . After his return he did botanical and zoological studies and dealt with the culture of the Indians. During this time he began to deal with politics.
In 1842 he was elected to the House of Representatives and shortly thereafter appointed governor of Michoacán. During the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) he raised troops and violently opposed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which was advantageous for the Americans . He took increasingly anti-clerical positions, viewed the Roman Catholic Church as an exploitative institution and advocated free state-funded education. Liberalism , democracy and tolerance were among his core values; he called for equality before the law and the abolition of all privileges .
In 1853, Melchor Ocampo fled the dictatorial regime of President Antonio López de Santa Anna to Cuba and the United States , where he met Benito Juárez ; in 1855 he returned to Mexico after the deposition of Santa Anna. During the presidency of Juan Álvarez Benítez , which lasted just over two months , he was foreign minister, but under Ignacio Comonfort he returned to Michoacán to hold several ministerial offices again under President Juárez. During the Reform War (1857–1861) between conservative and liberal forces, Ocampo clearly sided with the reform forces. In 1859 he negotiated the McLane-Ocampo Treaty , which was supposed to bring much-needed dollars into the empty treasury of Mexico, but at the same time opened 3 free corridors for the Americans. After a lengthy dispute with Benito Juárez, Ocampo withdrew from his cabinet in January 1860; in November 1860, the latter declared the entire negotiated contract null and void.
death
A few months after his retirement from all public office, Melchor Ocampo was kidnapped by conservative guerrillas from his hacienda and taken to Tepeji del Río, about 140 km east. Allegedly, the kidnappers allowed him to sort out his last affairs, but on June 3, 1861, an execution squad shot him dead and his body was hung from a tree. His remains now rest in the Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres in the Panteón Civil de Dolores cemetery near Chapultepec Park in Mexico City.
Honors
Approx. 15 places, several municipalities ( municipios ) and numerous streets etc. all over Mexico bear his name today.
literature
- Mario Mena: Melchor Ocampo . Editorial Jus, 1959.
Web links
- Melchor Ocampo - Biography (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ocampo, Melchor |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Mexican reform politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 5, 1814 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Maravatío |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 3, 1861 |
| Place of death | Tepeji del Río |