José Dionisio de la Trinidad de Herrera y Díaz del Valle (9 October 1781 in Choluteca, Honduras – 13 June 1850 in San Vicente, El Salvador) was a Liberal Honduran politician, head of state of Honduras from 1824 to 1827 and head of state of Nicaragua from 1830 to 1833. During his terms, Honduras and Nicaragua were states within the

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 ...

. Herrera was an uncle of the Liberal Central American general

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 ...

. From a land-owning family, Herrera studied at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, where he earned a law degreeDionisio de Herrera: 1783-1850 A centennial Tribute by Rafael Heliodoro Valle, The Hispanic American Historical Review, Nov. 1950
/ref> and came in contact with the liberal ideas of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. He was a tutor of his nephew, General Morazán. In 1820 he occupied his first public office, as secretary of the town government of

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

. On 16 September 1824 he became the first head of state of Honduras, after the independence of Central America from Spain and from Mexico. Colonel José Justo Milla was his vice-head of state. During his term he decreed the first territorial subdivisions of Honduras, creating the departments of Comayagua,

, Santa Bárbara, Yoro, Olancho and Choluteca (department). He also promulgated the first constitution of the country (state), on 11 December 1825. The government of Herrera was overthrown on May 10, 1827 in a coup d'état led by Colonel Milla and aided by Honduran Conservatives. Herrera was sent as a prisoner to Guatemala, where he remained until 1829. Thereafter he was elected head of state of Nicaragua, taking office on 12 May 1830. He exercised this office until November 1833, relying on the support of General Morazán. He tried to implement various Liberal reforms, but unsuccessfully, due to the opposition of the clergy. In 1835 he was elected head of state of El Salvador, but he declined the office. In 1838 he retired from politics, working as a teacher in the city of San Vicente, El Salvador. He remained there until his death in 1850.

Sources and references

*This is a free translation of the Spanish Wikipedia article Dionisio Herrera.

External links

Biography from the site ''Honduras Educacional''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Jose Dionisio 1781 births 1850 deaths People from Choluteca Department Honduran people of Spanish descent Presidents of Honduras Presidents of Nicaragua Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni 19th-century Honduran people