Miguel García Granados y Zavala (29 September 1809 – 8 September 1878) was a Spanish-born Guatemalan politician and military general who served as

President of Guatemala The president of Guatemala (), officially titled President of the Republic of Guatemala (), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a single four-year term. The position of President was created in 1839. Selectio ...

from 1871 to 1873.

Early life

García Granados was born in

El Puerto de Santa María El Puerto de Santa María (), locally known as El Puerto and historically in English as Port Saint Mary, is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. , the c ...

, Spain. As a young adolescent, he was brought to Central America. He was a member of a wealthy military family. At age twenty-three, Granados visited South America, Europe and the cities of New York and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in the US. He completed his schooling in London.Guatemalan Military Museum: Miguel García Granados
Reviewed on August 7th 2014. He was the brother of Guatemalan writer

María Josefa García Granados María Josefa García Granados y Zavala (10 July 1796 - 28 September 1848) was a Guatemalan intellectual, writer, journalist and poet of Spanish origin, and one of the greatest intellectual exponents of the independence of Guatemala, which Guate ...

Career

García Granados was known as a moderate liberal. He compromised with

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 ...

, and attempted to get along with his successor

Vicente Cerna Vicente Cerna y Cerna (22 January 1815 – 27 June 1885) was president of Guatemala from 24 May 1865 to 29 June 1871. Loyal friend and comrade of Rafael Carrera, was appointed army's Field Marshal after Carraera's victory against Salvadorian lea ...

. Sympathetic with the revolt against the government, García Granados fled to exile and was supported by Guatemalan liberals. After returning to Guatemala, García Granados became the leader of the revolution against Cerna, eventually becoming known as its philosopher. García Granados played a key part in the regime of

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 reun ...

, the founder of "the army of 45 men". He served as a provisional president from 1871 to 1873 after the liberal victory of Guatemala City. García Granados wanted to regularize the government by constructing a lawful regime. In 1872, Guatemala invaded

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, ...

, where García Granados decreed

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

and expelled the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. García Granados and his successor Barrios support multiple liberal revolts. During his presidency, García Granados created the Guatemalan flag by decree, which remains almost identical to his 1871 version. Garcia Granados supported education and the arts. In 1871 he invited Italian conductor Pietro Visoni to stay in Guatemala and become the director of the main military band. Visoni later founded the Martial Symphony Band and the School of Substitutes (Escuela de Substitutos), the first formal music conservatory in Central America. After García Granados stepped down, Barrios served as president until the mid-1870s.

Retirement

García Granados retired from public life to write articles for Guatemalan magazines and newspapers; accounts of the time when he was the leader of the liberal forces and as president; an essay about monetary policy and two volumes of memoirs. Monumento MG Granados

In 1877, he arrived in Guatemala

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

, who started teaching in the just founded Instituto Nacional Central para Varones and Escuela Normal para Varones. In those days, the high schools' faculty included Spaniard politician Valero Pujol, German engineer Edwin Rockstroh and Cuban poet

José Joaquín Palma José Joaquín Palma Lasso (September 11, 1844 – August 2, 1911) was a Cuban writer who was the author of the Guatemalan national anthem's lyrics. Biography He was the son of Pedro Palma y Aguilera and Dolores Lasso de la Vega and went t ...

, who used to gather for intellectual conversations. In one of those meetings, Martí met

María García Granados y Saborío María García Granados y Saborío (1860 – May 10, 1878), also known as La Niña de Guatemala ("The Girl of Guatemala"), was a Guatemalan socialite, daughter of General Miguel García Granados, who was President of Guatemala from 1871 to 1873 ...

, general García Granados' daughter. Despite his engagement to a Cuban woman, Martí started visiting the Garcia Granados residency, where he frequently played chess with the general and paid his respects to María. María fell in love with Martí, but after a sudden trip to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in early 1878, came back to Guatemala already married. A few weeks after Marti left for good, María died, followed shortly thereafter by her father. In 1891, Martí wrote a poem in her memory, named ''La Niña de Guatemala'',''The Girl from Guatemala''. in which he implies that she died from love.

Death

Garcia Granados died on 8 September 1878 at the age of 69. Garcia Granados was laid to rest in the old San Juan de Dios Cemetery.That cemetery was located where the San Juan de Dios Hospital in downtown Guatemala City stands today. In 1894, his remains were transferred to a monument erected in his honor at the new General Cemetery. His portrait appears on the 10 Quetzales bank note.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

* Jones, Christopher L. Guatemala: Past and Present. Russell & Russell, 1966 * Rosenthal, Mario. Guatemala: The story of an emergent Latin American Democracy. Twayne, 1962

External links

* In Spanish
Perfil biográfico
* In Spanish

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Granados Zavala, Miguel 1809 births 1878 deaths People from El Puerto de Santa María Liberal Party (Guatemala) politicians Presidents of Guatemala 19th-century Guatemalan people Guatemalan people of Spanish descent