José María Castro Madriz (1 September 1818 – 4 April 1892) was a Costa Rican lawyer, academic, diplomat, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He served twice as

President of Costa Rica The president of the Republic of Costa Rica is the head of state and head of government of Costa Rica. The president is currently elected in direct elections for a period of four years, which is not immediately renewable. Two vice presidents are ...

, from 1847 to 1849, and from 1866 to 1868.El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica
/ref> 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 The Federal Republic of Central America ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...

. Castro was born in San José and educated at the

University of León The University of León is a Spanish public university with campus in León and Ponferrada. The university is found in 1843, when it was created the Normal School for Teachers or Masters Seminar of Public Instruction and the subaltern school of V ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

, 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 Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the national

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

(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 A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

of the

Supreme Court of Justice A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

from 1860 to 1866 and from 1870 to 1873) and the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

(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 The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He was also a strong defender of freedom of the press at a time when many Costa Rican governments practiced widespread

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

. 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 Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

legislation adopted by that government. He was married to Pacífica Fernández, who designed the 1848 version of the

Costa Rican flag The national flag of Costa Rica is based on a design created in 1848 and consists of two blue stripes, two white stripes, and a central red stripe which is twice as wide as each of the other four. The civil flag omits the coat of arms seen on ...

. His daughter Cristina Fernández Castro married

Minor C. Keith Minor Cooper Keith (19 January 1848 – 14 June 1929) was an American businessman whose railroad, commercial agriculture, and cargo liner enterprises had a major impact on the national economies of the Central American countries, as well as on th ...

in 1883. Their grandson,

Rafael Yglesias Rafael Yglesias is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novels, Hide Fox, And All After, A Happy Marriage, and the 1993 movie '' Fearless'', which he adapted from his own novel of the same name. He is the father of Nicholas an ...

, served as President of Costa Rica from 1894 to 1902. Inaugurated at age 28, he was the youngest person to ever serve as President of Costa Rica.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro Madriz, Jose Maria 1818 births 1892 deaths People 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 Foreign ministers 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