Juan Primitivo Próspero Fernández Oreamuno (July 18, 1834 – March 12, 1885) was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

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 ...

from 1882 to 1885.El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica
/ref> Fernández studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the

University of San Carlos of Guatemala The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC, ''University of San Carlos of Guatemala'') is the largest and oldest university of Guatemala; it is also the fourth founded in the Americas. Established in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the Spani ...

before embarking on a military career. He fought in the war of 1856–1857 against William Walker and participated in the military coup that overthrew Jesús Jiménez in 1870. He was married to a sister of

Tomás Guardia Tomás may refer to: * Tomás (given name) * Tomás (surname) Tomás is a Spanish and Portuguese surname, equivalent of ''Thomas''. It may refer to: * Antonio Tomás (born 1985), professional Spanish footballer * Belarmino Tomás (1892–1950), ...

and under Guardia's government he was appointed commander of the

Alajuela Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it i ...

barracks and given the rank of

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. He was elected to succeed Guardia in 1882. As president he implemented measures that sought to undermine the power of the

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. He withdrew the

Concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...

with the

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, expelled both the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Costa Rica from the country, and in 1884 passed laws that placed cemeteries under state control, introduced civil marriage, and legalized divorce. The most powerful figure within his government was his brother-in-law, former president

José María Castro Madriz José María Castro Madriz (1 September 1818 – 4 April 1892) was a Costa Rican lawyer, academic, diplomat, and politician. He served twice as President of Costa Rica, from 1847 to 1849, and from 1866 to 1868. On both occasions he was prevente ...

, who served as minister of foreign and religious affairs, education, justice, and public aid. During his administration the state defaulted on its financial obligations to

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 ...

, who was building a railway to the

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port of

Limón Limón (), commonly known as Puerto Limón, is a district, the capital city and main hub of Limón province, as well as of the Limón canton in Costa Rica. It is the seventh largest city in Costa Rica, with a population of over 55,000, and is ho ...

. To compensate him, cabinet minister Bernardo Soto signed a deal that gave Keith 800,000 acres (3,200 km²) of tax-free land along the railroad, plus a 99-year lease on the operation of the train route. Keith would later use those lands and his command of the railroad to build a powerful

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

trading concern (see

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...

). President Fernández died in office shortly after declaring war on

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 ...

which, under Gen.

Justo Rufino Barrios Justo Rufino Barrios Auyón (19 July 1835 – 2 April 1885) was a Guatemalan politician and military general who served as President of Guatemala from 1873 to his death in 1885. He was known for his liberal reforms and his attempts to reuni ...

, had embarked on the reunification of the dissolved

United Provinces 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 ...

. National Highway CR-27 connecting the capital city of San José with the Pacific coast's port of Caldera is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez Oreamuno, Prospero 1834 births 1885 deaths People from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican people of Spanish descent Presidents of Costa Rica Vice presidents of Costa Rica Generals 19th-century Costa Rican people Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni Costa Rican liberals