Mauro Fernández Acuña (19 December 1843, in

San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...

– 16 July 1905) was a

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

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 ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

Biography

He studied law at the

University of Santo Tomás The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

, from which he graduated in 1869. He reached several positions in the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica and was university professor of the College of Lawyers. He was a delegate in the Costa Rican Constituent Assembly in 1880 and again in 1885, 1892 and 1902. He was President of the Congress, Minister of Property and Commerce, advisor of State and Director of the

National Bank of Costa Rica Banco Nacional de Costa Rica or BNCR is the largest commercial bank in Costa Rica and the second largest in Central America by assets. It has a 49% stake in Banco de Costa Rica International Limited (BICSA), incorporated with the Republic of Panam ...

. In 1885, he was named by President

Bernardo Soto Alfaro Ramón Bernardo Soto Alfaro (12 February 1854 – 28 January 1931) was President of Costa Rica from 1885 to 1889. He took office when his father-in-law, President Próspero Fernández, died in office in 1885, and in a gesture of national conc ...

as the head of the Secretariat of Public Instruction, where he initiated a reform in Costa Rican education, which triggered the closing of the University of Santo Tomás (at which he studied) and put more funding into

Secondary Education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

. He helped found the Colegio Superior de Senoritas, Costa Rica's first secondary school for women. Fernández was responsible for hiring his wife Ada's sister, Marian Le Cappellain, to found the Colegio Superior de Señoritas in 1888. He died in

on 16 July 1905. He was declared a '' Benemérito de la Patria'', a title given to honorable Costa Rican persons in history, by Executive Decree 109 on 18 June 1955.

Currency

Mauro was placed on the front of the 2,000 colones bank note of Costa Rica. This brilliant blue note is equal to about $3.00 and depicts a coral reef scene on the back.

References

External links

GalleryBiography of Mauro Fernández Acuna
1843 births 1905 deaths People from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican people of Spanish descent Finance ministers of Costa Rica Government ministers of Costa Rica Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica 19th-century Costa Rican judges {{CostaRica-law-bio-stub Costa Rican liberals