José María Alfaro Zamora (March 20, 1799 – June 12, 1856) was the

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 ...

n Head of State between the periods of 1842 and 1844 as well as 1846 and 1847 and President of Costa Rica between May 1 and May 8, 1847.

Early life and family

Alfaro was born in

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 ...

, Costa Rica on March 20, 1799 to his parents Juan Antonio Alfaro y Arias and María Damiana Zamora y Flores. On May 19, 1825 he married María Josefa Sandoval y Jiménez. With her he fathered José Joaquín Alfaro Sandoval, a daughter who died early in her childhood, and Calixto Alfaro Sandoval. Alfaro was a farmer and a businessman. He owned lands devoted to coffee plantation and a sawmill in Itiquís near Alajuela. He also participated in a lumber company in

Jinotepe Jinotepe () is a city and municipality in the Carazo department of Nicaragua. It borders with Managua, Masaya, Granada, and Rivas. Toponymy Jinotepe comes from the náhuatl "xilotl" (“tender corn”), "tepetl" (“hill”) y "-k" (“place� ...

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 coun ...

Public activities

He served as supply deputy for Alajuela (1825-1827), second mayor of Alajuela (1828), deputy for Alajuela (1829-1831), deputy for Heredia (1834-1836), political leader of the western department (1841) and magistrate of the Judicial Chamber (1841-1842). On September 27, 1842, in a junta convocated by then Head of State Antonio Pinto Soares, José María Alfaro Zamora was designated Provisional Head of State. During his administration he built the road that connects San José to

Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas canton of Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which is made from the Puntarenas, Chacarita and ...

, founded Universidad de Santo Tomás, emitted the 1844 Constitution, and founded the newspaper "Mentor Costarricense". He lost the 1844 elections to

Francisco María Oreamuno Bonilla Francisco María Oreamuno Bonilla (4 October 1801, Cartago, Costa Rica Cartago () is the head city of Cartago canton of the Cartago Province, and is composed of the Oriental and Occidental districts as stated in the administrative divisions ...

. On November 29, 1844 he gave Oreamuno his office which was meant to last until 1848. On June 7, 1846 after a coup d'état Alfaro was again declared Provisional Head of State. During this administration Puntarenas was declared a free port, the 1847 Constitution was emitted and a failed diplomatic mission with Nicaragua was launched in a second attempt to sign a border agreement with this country (a previous attempt by

Braulio Carrillo Braulio Evaristo Carrillo Colina (March 20, 1800, Cartago, Costa Rica – May 15, 1845) was the Head of State of Costa Rica (the title as it was known before the reform of 1848) during two periods: the first between 1835 and 1837, and the de ...

in 1838 had also failed). Although he lost the 1847 elections to

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 prevented ...

he won the office of Vice President for the next term. In order to comply with the new Constitution, from May 1 to May 8, 1847 he used the title ''President of the State''. On May 8, 1847 he was succeeded by Castro. In May 1847, he became Vice President of the State, but he had to quit months after. Accused of corruption, he was confined to Térraba and later moved to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Aftermath and death

He later returned to Costa Rica but refused to participate in politics. He died in Alajuela on June 11, 1856 due to

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfaro Zamora, Jose Maria 1799 births 1856 deaths People from Alajuela Costa Rican people of Spanish descent Presidents of Costa Rica Vice presidents of Costa Rica Leaders who took power by coup Deaths from cholera Infectious disease deaths in Costa Rica Mayors of places in Costa Rica Members of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica 19th-century Costa Rican judges Costa Rican liberals