Manuel Aguilar Chacón (12 August 1797,

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 ...

– 7 July 1846) was head of state of

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

from April 1837 to March 1838.

Early life

He was born in San José,

, on August 12, 1797. Was the son of Miguel Antonio Aguilar y Fernández (who ordained as a priest after widowing) and Josefa de la Luz Chacón y Aguilar. He got married in León,

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, on August 4, 1824 to Inés Cueto y García de la Llana, daughter of Luis de Cueto y Cortés de la Quintana y Teodora García de la Llana. In their home, their four children were born: # Mauro Antonio de Jesús (b. 1826), married to Rosa Guzmán y Guzmán, daughter of

Juan José Guzmán General Juan José Guzmán (July 1797, La Unión – 19 October 1847) was the first President of El Salvador from 14 April 1842 to 1 February 1844. He died on 19 October 1847 aged 50. Presidency Guzman was the first President of El Salvador ...

, President of

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 ...

in 1842 and from 1842 to 1844. # Juan Manuel (b. 1828), deceased in his early years. # Inés Antonia de Jesús (1830-1895), married to

Juan Rafael Mora Porras Juan Rafael Mora Porras (8 February 1814, San José, Costa Rica – 30 September 1860) was President of Costa Rica from 1849 to 1859. Life and career Mora first assumed the presidency upon the resignation of his younger brother, Miguel Mor ...

, President of Costa Rica from 1849 to 1859. # Manuel Antonio de Jesús (1832-1860), Single.

Studies

He obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of León in

in 1820 and his Lawyer degree in 1821.

First public office

He became judge of Costa Rica in 1824, member and President of the Constituent Assembly through 1824–1825, General Ministry from 1825 to 1827, School Governing of la Casa de Enseñanza de Santo Tomás in 1826, Representative for San José in 1828, Elected federal Senator in 1828 (he was not able to take office at the time) and Federal Senator through(1832-1833). In 1830 he was elected by the Legislative Assembly as President of the Superior Court of Justice of Costa Rica, but he declined the position. During 1833, while he was working as Federal Senator in Guatemala, the liberal groups from San José and

Alajuela Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela (canton), 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 ...

backed up his candidacy as chief of state of Costa Rica. Although he had the highest vote count, he was not able to achieve absolute majority and the Legislative Assembly chose José Rafael de Gallegos y Alvarado. Manuel Aguilar Chacón returned to Costa Rica on November 21, 1833. And in 1835 he was elected again as Representative for San José to cover the period 1835–1837. He presided the house of Representatives in 1835. In March of that same year, when the elected Chief of State to conclude the period in Gallegos, Nicolás Ulloa Soto, declined the position, the Assembly voted in favor of Aguilar Chacón to assume top command but he refused to admit the electoral process.

Head of the state

With the support of the communities of

, Cartago and Heredia, Manuel Aguilar Chacón defeated

Braulio Carrillo Colina Braulio Evaristo Carrillo Colina (March 20, 1800, in Cartago, Costa Rica – May 15, 1845) was the List of Presidents of Costa Rica, Head of State of Costa Rica (the title as it was known before the reform of 1848) during two periods: the fir ...

in the 1837 elections and was chosen as Head of State for Costa Rica for the period 1837–1841. As Vice-chief Juan Mora Fernández was elected. Both took office on April 17, 1837 at the city of Heredia, the Capital City of

at the time. During his mandate, the law of 1835 that established the Capital in the City of Murciélago was repealed. He took measures in favour of health and education. He also reorganized the Superior Court of Justice. He did face great opposition from the supporters of

. He even took a serious beating. In March, 1838 he presented his resignation as Chief of State but the Legislative Assembly rejected it.

Fall and exile

Manuel Aguilar Chacón was overthrown on May 27, 1838 by a military coup d'état that rose

into power. Aguilar Chacón had to flee in exile. He first was established in the state of

and later on moved to

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Later activities

He was Commissioner of

in Costa Rica through 1843 and later on he decided to exercise his lawyer profession. In 1845 the Government of Costa Rica designated him as delegate to the "Dieta Unionista Centroamericana" (Centroamerican Union Conference) that was expected to hold a meeting in

Sonsonate Sonsonate () is a city and district of El Salvador, of which it is also its municipal seat. It has an estimated population of 71,980 inhabitants for the year 2020. Sonsonate is the second most important city in western El Salvador. The town was ...

in 1846. Manuel Aguilar Chacón traveled to Sonsonate, but the union meeting was never inaugurated.

Death

He died in

, on July 7, 1846, as a consequence of pneumonia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilar Chacon, Manuel 1797 births 1846 deaths People from San José, Costa Rica Presidents of Costa Rica 19th-century Costa Rican people Costa Rican liberals People from New Spain