Diego Vigil y Cocaña (1799,

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

– 10 January 1845,

Granada, Nicaragua Granada () is a city in western Nicaragua and the capital of the Granada Department. With an estimated population of 105,862 (2022), it is Nicaragua's ninth most populous city. Granada is historically one of Nicaragua's most important cities, econ ...

) was a Central American politician. He was the last president of the

Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America (), initially known as the United Provinces of Central America (), was a sovereign state in Central America that existed between 1823 and 1839/1841. The republic was composed of five states (Costa Rica ...

(1839–40), during its disintegration. He was also chief of state of the federal states of Honduras (1829) and

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

(1836–37 and 1837–38).

Background and early political career

Diego Vigil was the son of José Vigil Fernández and Josefa Cocaña Fábrega. He was related to the Central American Liberal leader, general and president,

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

, and was among his closest fellow combatants. Vigil studied law at the

University of León The University of León (ULE) is a public university based in the city of León (Spain), León (Spain), with an additional campus in Ponferrada. The origins of the university can be traced back to 1843, with the creation of the Normal School of Te ...

León, Nicaragua León () is the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. Founded by the Spanish as Santiago de los Caballeros de León, it is the capital and largest city of León Department. , the municipality of León has an estimated population of ...

, and was afterwards temporarily active as a lawyer and notary in Tegucigalpa. In 1824, he was a member of the federal parliament. In 1826–27, he was governor of the province of Tegucigalpa, but after the occupation of that city by the troops of federal President Manuel José Arce, he was arrested. When Morazán reconquered Honduras, Vigil was freed.

As chief of state of Honduras

After Morazán's victory in the Battle of La Trinidad (10 November 1827), the Legislative Assembly of Honduras named Vigil vice-chief of state on 27 November 1827. Morazán later made him chief of state of Honduras (7 March 1829 to 2 December 1829). During his term of office, the Legislative Assembly dissolved the religious communities in Honduras. Their goods passed to the state, and several monasteries and other buildings were occupied as public buildings.

As chief of state of El Salvador

General Morazán made him chief of state of the state of El Salvador, effective 1 February 1836. He served until 23 May 1837, and then again from 7 July 1837 to 6 January 1838. During his administration a

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic broke out in El Salvador, spread by pilgrims returning from the shrine of

Esquipulas Esquipulas (Nahuatl: Isquitzuchil, "place where flowers abound"), officially Municipality of Esquipulas, whose original name was Yzquipulas, is a town, with a population of 18,667 (2018 census), and a municipality located in the department of Chiq ...

. Because of the cholera, the government stopped all payments except for public employees, in order to devote the resources to fighting the epidemic. By January 1837, the cholera had spread to all the populations of the state. The state government established sanitary committees to meet in the capitals of the departments. In March 1836, Licenciado and General Nicolás Espinoza, former chief of state of the state of El Salvador, was expelled from the state, and his title of ''Benemerito de la Patria'' was withdrawn. On 8 January 1837, the Legislative Assembly passed the annual budget, totaling 85,028 pesos. It also authorized the introduction of water into the town of

San Miguel San Miguel, Spanish for Saint Michael, may refer to: Places Argentina *San Miguel Partido *San Miguel, Buenos Aires * San Miguel, Catamarca * San Miguel, Corrientes * San Miguel, La Rioja *San Miguel Arcángel, a Volga German colony in Adolfo Al ...

. On 23 May 1837 an insurrection of natives in

Zacatecoluca Zacatecoluca () is the capital municipality of the La Paz Department of El Salvador. Located in Southern El Salvador, in the Rio Lempa valley, at the foot of San Vicente (Chinchotepec) Volcano. A commercial center for the surrounding agricultu ...

and

Cojutepeque Cojutepeque () is the capital city of El Salvador's Cuscatlán department. It also served as the capital of San Salvador during several years. It also serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of Cojutepeque. Its popu ...

broke out, with much killing and pillaging. On the same day, the office of chief of state passed from Vigil to Timoteo Menéndez. Vigil returned to office six weeks later, on 7 July. In June 1837 a revolutionary movement erupted in Santa Ana, but it was suppressed. The government decreed amnesty for the participants in the various revolutionary movements. On 6 January 1838, Timoteo Menéndez again became chief of state.

As president of the federal republic

After federal Vice President Gregorio Salazar was killed during the occupation of

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

by the rebel forces of

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. He ruled during the establishment of ne ...

, Vigil was selected to succeed him (1 February 1838). Morazán was then in his second term as president of the federation. On 1 February 1839, Morazán turned the presidency over to Vigil. Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica had withdrawn from the federation in 1838, and soon Guatemala followed suit (17 April 1839). This left the "federation" with only one member, El Salvador. On 31 March 1840, El Salvador dissolved the federation and Vigil's term came to an end.

Later years

On 8 April 1840, Diego Vigil and Francisco Morazán sailed from El Salvador for Costa Rica and Panama. After Morazán's execution on 15 September 1842 in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital city, capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Costa Rican Central Valley, Central Valley, wi ...

, Vigil settled in

, where he remained until his death in 1845.

External links

Short biography
from the El Salvador government website

from a Honduran website {{DEFAULTSORT:Vigil, Diego 1799 births 1845 deaths Heads of state of the Federal Republic of Central America Presidents of Honduras Presidents of El Salvador People from New Spain