Misplaced Pages

José María Castro Madriz
1st and 5th President of Costa Rica
In office 31 August 1848 – 16 November 1849
Vice President	José María Alfaro Zamora Juan Rafael Mora Manuel José Carazo Bonilla
Preceded by	José María Alfaro Zamora
Succeeded by	Miguel Mora Porras
In office 8 May 1866 – 1 November 1868
Preceded by	Jesús Jiménez (first term)
Succeeded by	Jesús Jiménez (second term)
Personal details
Born	1 September 1818 San José, New Spain
Died	4 April 1892 (age 73) San José, Costa Rica
Political party	Liberal

José María Castro Madriz (1 September 1818 – 4 April 1892) was a Costa Rican lawyer, academic, diplomat, and politician. He served twice as President of Costa Rica, from 1848 to 1849, and from 1866 to 1868. On both occasions he was prevented from completing his term of office by military coups. During his first administration, on 31 August 1848, he formally declared Costa Rica an independent republic, definitively severing Costa Rica's ties to the moribund Federal Republic of Central America.

Life

Castro was born in San José. He was the son of Ramón Castro y Ramírez and Lorenza Madriz Cervantes. He was educated at the University of León in Nicaragua, where he graduated as bachelor of philosophy and doctor of law. He occupied many public offices throughout his life, both before and after serving as President. He was the rector of the national University (which he had helped to create) for sixteen years, and served several administrations as cabinet minister and ambassador. He also presided over the judiciary (as chief judge of the Supreme Court of Justice from 1860 to 1866 and from 1870 to 1873) and the legislature (as president of the Congress of Deputies in 1844-1845 and of the fourth Constitutional Convention in 1859), making him the only other Costa Rican besides Ricardo Jiménez to have headed all three branches of the government.

An active Freemason, Castro was consistently critical of the political influence of the Roman Catholic Church. He was also a strong defender of freedom of the press at a time when many Costa Rican governments practiced widespread censorship. His constitutional reform of 1848, however, established the most restricted suffrage that ever existed in independent Costa Rica. As president his lack of a committed political base made him an easy target for overthrow by the military. As the minister of foreign affairs, education, justice, public aid, and religious affairs, Castro was the most influential figure in the government of his brother-in-law, President Próspero Fernández (1882–1885), and he was largely responsible for the anti-clerical legislation adopted by that government.

He was married to Pacífica Fernández, who designed the 1848 version of the Costa Rican flag. His daughter Cristina Fernández Castro married Minor C. Keith in 1883. Their grandson, Rafael Yglesias, served as President of Costa Rica from 1894 to 1902.

Inaugurated at age 29, he was the youngest person to ever serve as President of Costa Rica.

References

1. El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica
2. Diaz-Arias, David; Hurtado, Ronny Viales; Hernández, Juan José Marín (2018-11-16). Historical Dictionary of Costa Rica. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-5381-0242-8.

v t e Presidents and heads of state of Costa Rica
1825–1848	Juan Mora Fernández Gallegos Carrillo Joaquín Mora Aguilar Carrillo Morazán Pinto Alfaro Oreamuno Gallegos Alfaro Castro
After 1848	Castro Miguel Mora Juan Mora Porras Montealegre Jiménez Zamora Castro Jiménez Zamora Carranza Guardia Esquivel Sáenz Herrera Guardia Lizano Fernández Soto Durán Rodríguez Zeledón Yglesias Esquivel Ibarra González Víquez Jiménez Oreamuno González Flores Tinoco Quirós Aguilar Acosta Jiménez Oreamuno González Víquez Jiménez Oreamuno Cortés Calderón Guardia Picado Figueres Ferrer Ulate Figueres Ferrer Echandi Orlich Trejos Figueres Ferrer Oduber Carazo Monge Arias Calderón Fournier Figueres Olsen Rodríguez Echeverría Pacheco Arias Chinchilla Solís Alvarado Chaves
Costa Rica portal

• 1818 births
• 1892 deaths
• Politicians from San José, Costa Rica
• Costa Rican people of Galician descent
• Costa Rican people of Spanish descent
• Presidents of Costa Rica
• Vice presidents of Costa Rica
• Ministers of foreign affairs of Costa Rica
• Costa Rican Freemasons
• 19th-century Costa Rican people
• 19th-century Costa Rican lawyers
• Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica judges
• Costa Rican liberals