José María Montealegre Fernández (19 March 1815 – September 26, 1887) was President of

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

from 1859 to 1863. Born into a wealthy family of coffee plantation owners, he was sent to study medicine in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, where he graduated as a surgeon. Montealegre was the first Costa Rican to be sent to study medicine in Europe. He married twice: in 1840 to Ana Maria Mora (1819–1854), sister of the previous President Juan Rafael Mora (1849–1859), and in 1858 to Sofía Matilde Joy Redman (1823–1908), a Londoner, who was a relative of British diplomat Sir

William Gore Ouseley Sir William Gore Ouseley (26 July 1797 – 6 March 1866) was a British diplomat who served in various roles in Washington, D.C., Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. His main achievement were negotiations concerning ownership of Britain's interests ...

. He came to power following a military

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

against Juan Rafael Mora. In the first months of his presidency he convened a constitutional conventional, which produced the Constitution of 1859. Under the new constitution he was popularly elected to a three-year presidential term in 1860, after which he handed on the presidency, peacefully and democratically, to Jesús Jiménez. He suffered a political setback when a coup led by

Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez Tomás Miguel Guardia Gutiérrez (16 December 1831 – 6 July 1882) was a Costa Rican military officer and politician who was the 8th and 11th President of Costa Rica, serving from 1870 to 1876 and again from 1877 until his death in 1882. He rem ...

deposed his brother-in-law,

Bruno Carranza José Bruno Carranza Ramírez (October 5, 1822 – January 25, 1891) was briefly President of Costa Rica (albeit with the title ''Temporary Head of the Republic'') in 1870. Bruno Carranza came to power in the coup d'état of 27 April 1870 that ...

. Montealegre decided to leave Costa Rica, and sailed with his family on the steamer Alaska to San Francisco in 1872. He died in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

and his mortal remains laid near Mission San Jose (located in what is now

Fremont, California Fremont () is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San F ...

) until they were repatriated in 1978. His sister was

Gerónima Montealegre Gerónima Montealegre Fernández de Carranza Ramírez (October 30, 1823 - September 16, 1892) was First Lady of Costa Rica and wife of Temporary Head of State Bruno Carranza. She was born in San José on October 30, 1823 to her parents Mariano ...

, and his great-great-grandniece is actress

Madeleine Stowe Madeleine Stowe (born August 18, 1958) is an American actress. She appeared mostly on television before her role in the 1987 crime-comedy film '' Stakeout''. She went on to star in the films ''Revenge'' (1990), ''Unlawful Entry'' (1992), ''The L ...

References

1815 births 1887 deaths Presidents of Costa Rica Vice presidents of Costa Rica Leaders who took power by coup 19th-century Costa Rican people Costa Rican emigrants to the United States People from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican people of Spanish descent Costa Rican liberals {{CostaRica-politician-stub