José Francisco Barrundia y Cepeda (May 12, 1787,

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nes ...

– August 4, 1854,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) was a liberal

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

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, a ...

. From June 26, 1829 to September 16, 1830 he was interim president of the United Provinces of Central America.

Background

Barrundia was born in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. He studied at the Colegio Tridentino, where he became a bachelor of philosophy on March 19, 1803. His brother Juan Barrundia was head of the province of Guatemala in 1829. José Barrundia was considered an outstanding intellectual and man of letters, fluent in several languages. He translated into Spanish the Livingston Code (penal code of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

) in order to adapt it to the country. He was a populist member of the Central American Congress and in his later career he served as minister plenipotentiary of Honduras in New York City.

Political career and presidency

In 1825 he was elected the first vice president of the United Provinces of Central America, under

Manuel José Arce Manuel José Arce y Fagoaga (1 January 1787 – 14 December 1847) was a decorated salvadoran General and president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1825 to 1829, followed by Francisco Morazán. Background Manuel José Arce w ...

, but he declined the office. He did serve as senator. From Congress he criticized the increasing conservatism of Arce. In 1826 Arce unconstitutionally dissolved the Congress, and this led to civil war. He was a strong supporter of Honduran liberal

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

. With the fall of Arce and the triumph of Morazán, Barrundia became interim president of the United Provinces (July 1829), with a mandate to organize elections. Elections were held in July 1830, and in September Morazán succeeded him as president.

After serving as president

From 1831 to 1835 he was secretary of education of the state government of Guatemala, under Dr.

Mariano Gálvez José Felipe Mariano Gálvez (ca. 1794 – March 29, 1862 in Mexico) was a jurist and Liberal politician in Guatemala. For two consecutive terms from August 28, 1831, to March 3, 1838, he was chief of state of the State of Guatemala, within ...

. It was during this time that he translated the Livingston Code. However, he became estranged from Gálvez, and in 1838 contributed to his fall from power. This led to the ascent of Conservative

Rafael Carrera José Rafael Carrera y Turcios (24 October 1814 – 14 April 1865) was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed President for life in 1854. During his military career and preside ...

. In 1839 he proposed to the Guatemalan Congress the withdrawal of the state from the Central American Federation. This was approved by Congress. In 1848 he founded the newspaper ''Album Republicano''. A strong supporter of human rights, in 1850 he opposed Carrera, because of his bloody regime and his ignorance. He also challenged the influence of the Church. Before his death he became minister of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, negotiating in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

for annexation to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Though not a rich man, Barrundia refused his salary for the public positions he held. He died in New York in 1854 while serving as Honduran minister plenipotentiary. Guatemalan President Manuel Estrada Cabrera had his remains repatriated in 1913.

External links

Short biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrundia, Jose Francisco 1787 births 1854 deaths People from Guatemala City Guatemalan politicians Honduran politicians English–Spanish translators Heads of state of the Federal Republic of Central America 19th-century translators