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José Matías Delgado

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Delgado and the second or maternal family name is León.

José Matías Delgado y de León (24 February 1767 – 12 November 1832) was a Salvadoran priest and doctor known as El Padre de la Patria Salvadoreña (The Father of the Salvadoran Fatherland).[1]

Presbyter, Doctor
José Matías Delgado
2nd Political Chief of San Salvador
In office
28 November 1821 – 9 February 1823
MonarchAgustín I (until 19 March 1823)
Preceded byPedro Barriere
Succeeded byVicente Filísola
President of the Constituent Assembly of the United Provinces of Central America
In office
24 June 1823 – 1 July 1823
Preceded byVicente Filísola
(as Superior Political Chief)
Succeeded byFirst Triumvirate (es)
Personal details
Born24 February 1767
San Salvador, Greater Mayorship of San Salvador (es)
Died12 November 1832(1832-11-12) (aged 65)
San Salvador, Federal Republic of Central America
Resting placeSan Salvador Cathedral
13°41′54″N 89°11′27″W / 13.6983°N 89.1908°W / 13.6983; -89.1908
NationalitySalvadoran
Political partyIndependent
Alma materUniversity of San Carlos of Guatemala
OccupationPolitician, priest
Signature

He was a prominent leader in the independence movement of El Salvador from the Spanish Empire. From 28 November 1821 to 9 February 1823, he was the Political Chief of San Salvador. He later served as the President of the Constituent Assembly of the United Provinces of Central America from 24 June 1823 to 1 July 1823.

Early years

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José Matías Delgado y de León was born on 24 February 1767 in San Salvador, which was at the time a part of the Spanish Empire administered by the Greater Mayorship of San Salvador (es).[2][3][4] His father was Pedro Delgado y Matamoros, a Panamanian who later served as "Ordinary Mayor of First Vote and Alderman and Royal Ensign" of San Salvador in 1797. His mother was Mariana de León Mexía, a Guatemalan. He had six siblings: Manuel, Miguel, Josefa, Juan, Francisco, and Mercedes.[4][5] Through his mother, Delgado was a direct descendant of Sancho de Barahona, a Spanish conquistador who was a companion of Pedro de Alvarado, the conquistador who conquered El Salvador in the 16th century.[6]

Delgado studied jurisprudence and canon law at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala and the Tridentine College and Seminary of Our Lady of the Assumption (es) on a scholarship granted by Cayetano Francos y Monroy (es), the Archbishop of Santiago de Guatemala from 1779 to 1792.[4][7] He attained the grade of Doctor and was ordained as a priest when he graduated in 1794.[8] In 1808, he began the reconstruction of the old Parochial Church of San Salvador (today El Rosario Church), which was finished a decade later.[9]

Independence movement

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Further information: 1811 Independence Movement
 
A painting of the First Independence Movement celebration in San Salvador. At the centre, José Matías Delgado.

In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain and deposed King Ferdinand VII, replacing him with Joseph I, Napoleon's brother, beginning the Peninsular War.[10] The Spanish colonies in the Americas did not recognize Joseph I as their King, and pro-independence sentiments began to arise.[11]

Since 28 June 1805, the Colonial Intendant of San Salvador was Antonio Gutiérrez y Ulloa.[12][13] He was described as "infatuated" and "difficult" and was unpopular with those residing in San Salvador.[13]

In San Salvador, he became a leader of the independence movement. Together with his nephew Manuel José Arce, he was among those who issued the first Cry for Independence in Central America on 5 November 1811 in San Salvador. On this date, he is said to have rung the bells of the Church of La Merced as a public cry for liberty. The rebellion began with confiscating 3,000 guns and the funds in the royal treasury. The provincial intendant, Gutiérrez de Ulloa, was removed, as were most governmental employees.

The rebels held the government for nearly a month before royal authority was restored from Guatemala. Delgado's brothers Juan and Miguel were also members of the independence movement.

In 1813, Delgado was elected a provincial deputy to the council in Guatemala City and became director of the Tridentino Seminary there. He was not in El Salvador at the time of the second insurrection in 1814 and did not take part in it.

 
A painting by Chilean painter Luis Vergara Ahumada, depicting the signing of the Act by Father José Matías Delgado

He was elected provincial deputy again in 1820, and on 15 September 1821, he was among those who signed the Act of Independence of Central America in Guatemala City. On 28 November 1821, he became political chief of the province of San Salvador.

As head of state of El Salvador

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Portrait of Delgado during his time as Head of State of El Salvador [14]

When the Central American governmental junta voted to join the Mexican Empire (5 January 1822), Delgado (and many other Salvadorans) opposed this. On 11 January 1822, in San Salvador, the city government, presided over by Padre Delgado, and many members of the public protested the decision. Also, on 11 January, the government of El Salvador seceded from Guatemala to remain outside the Mexican Empire.

In April 1822, Colonel Manuel Arzú, in command of Guatemalan troops, occupied the Salvadoran cities of Santa Ana and Sonsonate. On 3 June 1822, Arzú entered San Salvador, reaching the Plaza Major. Nine hours of fighting resulted in many casualties, burned houses, and plundering, but the Guatemalans then withdrew. Delgado's nephew, Colonel Manuel José Arce, was one of the commanders of the Salvadoran defenders. On 6 June 1822, Salvadoran troops reoccupied Santa Ana, and later Ahuachapán and Sonsonate.

On 2 December 1822, fearing further encroachment from Guatemala, El Salvador officially asked for annexation to the United States. A delegation was sent to the United States to negotiate.

That same month, Brigadier Vicente Filísola, Captain General of Guatemala (within the Mexican Empire), marched toward San Salvador. He entered the city on 9 February 1823, declaring respect for people and goods but also the annexation of the province to Mexico. This was the end of José Matías Delgado's government.

Later life

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Portrait of Delgado in the National Archives of Ciudad de Guatemala

Central America declared its independence on the fall of Mexican Emperor Agustín de Iturbide in 1823. Delgado was elected one of the representatives to the constituent congress of the Federal Republic of Central America. This congress met in Guatemala beginning on 24 June 1823, and Delgado was chosen to preside.

On 5 May 1824, he was named the first bishop of San Salvador by the local civil authorities and not by the Catholic Church. This entangled him in a serious and long-lasting controversy with the Archbishop of Guatemala and with Popes Leo XII and Pius VIII,[15] which lasted until his death.

In 1824, he bought, in Guatemala, with public money, the first official printing press in El Salvador. It was used to publish the first Salvadoran newspaper, El Semanario Político Mercantil. The first issue appeared on 31 July 1824. Delgado died on 12 November 1832 in San Salvador. As his funeral procession passed the Plaza Mayor, mourners showered his coffin with white rose petals.

Delgado's remains are thought to have been interred at El Rosario Church.[16]

Legacy

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Statue of José Matías Delgado in San Salvador

On 22 January 1833, the National Assembly declared him Benemérito de la Patria.

The Salvadoran lawyer, educator, and journalist Rafael Reyes published the first biographical study of Delgado in December 1878. Later, other Central American intellectuals, including Francisco Gavidia, Carlos Meléndez Chaverri, Ramón López Jiménez, Rodolfo Barón Castro, José Salvador Guandique, and Jorge Lardé y Larín did likewise.

His name was given to the town resulting from the merger of Aculhuaca, Paleca, and San Sebastián Texincal on 23 October 1935. Dr. José Matías Delgado University, whose foundation was announced on 15 September 1977, is today located in Antiguo Cuscatlán, a suburb of San Salvador.

The National Assembly commissioned a portrait in oil for its chamber. It was made into a lithograph in New York by A. Demarest. A marble bust was installed on Avenida Independencia in San Salvador in 1902. Another statue was donated by the country's German, Austrian, and Swiss residents on 14 September 1913. This statue was at the Parque Arce, but the 1986 San Salvador earthquake destroyed it. There is also a statue of Delgado at the university named for him.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Zepeda Peña 2006, p. 12.
  2. ^ Paquette 2007, p. 264.
  3. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 1961, pp. 71, 77.
  4. ^ a b c "Presidentes de El Salvador – Presbítero y Doctor José Matías Delgado" [Presidents of El Salvador – Presbyter and Doctor José Matías Delgado]. Casapres (in Spanish). Government of El Salvador. 27 September 2005. p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  5. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 1961, pp. 73, 77, 331.
  6. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 1961, p. 73.
  7. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 1961, pp. 79, 82.
  8. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 1961, p. 86.
  9. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 1961, p. 92.
  10. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 1961, pp. 103–105.
  11. ^ Meléndez Chaverri 1961, p. 103–105, 113–114.
  12. ^ Cruz Pacheco & Cadenas y Vicent 1981, p. 478.
  13. ^ a b Meléndez Chaverri 1961, p. 119.
  14. ^ AMSS Bicentenario: Nicolás Aguilar y Bustamante
  15. ^ Pius VIII, Coelestis agricola ("The heavenly farmer"), published 7 July 1829, accessed 27 May 2024 (in Italian). Pius also refers to a letter on the matter sent by Leo XII in December 1826
  16. ^ Galdamez, E., El Rosario Church in San Salvador: A Marvel of Modernist Architecture in the Capital City, quote: "It is believed that Jose Matias Delgado, generally thought to be the father of El Salvador’s independence, is buried at this church", El Salvador Info, published on 11 September 2023, accessed on 20 June 2024

Bibliography

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Political offices
Preceded by Political Chief of San Salvador
1821–1823 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Constituent Assembly
of the United Provinces of Central America
1823 		Succeeded by
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