José Dionisio de la Trinidad de Herrera y Díaz del Valle (9 October 1781 in Choluteca,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

– 13 June 1850 in

San Vicente, El Salvador San Vicente () is a municipality in the San Vicente department of El Salvador. It was founded by 50 Spanish families in 1635 under the Tempisque tree, which is still standing today. Historic sites One point of interest is the Tower of San Vicen ...

) was a Liberal Honduran politician,

head of state of Honduras The president of Honduras (), officially known as the President of the Republic of Honduras (), is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, and the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. According to the 1982 Constitution of Ho ...

from 1824 to 1827 and head of state of Nicaragua from 1830 to 1833. During his terms, Honduras and Nicaragua were states within the

Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America (), initially known as the United Provinces of Central America (), was a sovereign state in Central America that existed between 1823 and 1839/1841. The republic was composed of five states (Costa Rica ...

. Herrera was an uncle of the Liberal Central American general

Francisco Morazán José Francisco Morazán Quesada (; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a liberal Central American politician and general who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president ...

Education

From a land-owning family, Herrera studied at the

University of San Carlos The University of San Carlos (USC or colloquially San Carlos) is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word missionarie ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, where he earned a law degreeDionisio de Herrera: 1783-1850 A centennial Tribute by Rafael Heliodoro Valle, The Hispanic American Historical Review, Nov. 1950
/ref> and came in contact with the liberal ideas of the French Revolution. He was a tutor of his nephew, General Morazán.

Public office

In 1820 he occupied his first public office, as secretary of the town government of

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...

. On 16 September 1824 he became the first head of state of Honduras, after the independence of Central America from Spain and from Mexico. Colonel

José Justo Milla José Justo Milla Pineda (1794 in Gracias – 1838) was a Honduran military leader who was the governor of the state of Honduras within the Federal Republic of Central America from 10 May 1827 to 13 September 1827. He was a member of the Libera ...

was his vice-head of state. During his term he decreed the first territorial subdivisions of Honduras, creating the departments of

Comayagua Comayagua () is a city, municipality and old capital of Honduras, located northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula and above sea level. The accelerated growth experienced by the city of Comayagua led the municipal authoriti ...

, Santa Bárbara,

Yoro Yoro, with a population of 101,849 (2022 calculation), is the capital city of the Yoro Department of Honduras and the municipal seat of Yoro Municipality. It is notable for a local event known as Lluvia de Peces, where it is claimed that strong ...

, Olancho and

Choluteca (department) Choluteca is one of the 18 departments ''(departamentos)'' into which Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is the city of Choluteca. The Choluteca River runs through the department. History In the Mesoamerican Classic period, the in ...

. He also promulgated the first constitution of the country (state), on 11 December 1825. The government of Herrera was overthrown on 10 May 1827 in a coup d'état led by Colonel Milla and aided by Honduran Conservatives. Herrera was sent as a prisoner to Guatemala, where he remained until 1829. Thereafter he was elected head of state of Nicaragua, taking office on 12 May 1830. He exercised this office until November 1833, relying on the support of General Morazán. He tried to implement various Liberal reforms, but unsuccessfully, due to the opposition of the clergy. In 1835 he was elected head of state of

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, but he declined the office. In 1838 he retired from politics, working as a teacher in the city of San Vicente, El Salvador. He remained there until his death in 1850.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Jose Dionisio 1781 births 1850 deaths People from Choluteca Department Honduran people of Spanish descent Presidents of Honduras Presidents of Nicaragua Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni 19th-century Honduran people People from New Spain