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Juan Primitivo Próspero Fernández Oreamuno (July 18, 1834 – March 12, 1885) was
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
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 1882 to 1885.El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones: Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica
/ref> Fernández studied
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
at the
University of San Carlos of Guatemala The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC, ''University of San Carlos of Guatemala'') is the largest and oldest university of Guatemala; it is also the fourth founded in the Americas. Established in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the Spa ...
before embarking on a military career. He fought in the war of 1856–1857 against William Walker and participated in the military coup that overthrew Jesús Jiménez in 1870. He was married to a sister of Tomás Guardia and under Guardia's government he was appointed commander of the
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 ...
barracks and given the rank of Major General. He was elected to succeed Guardia in 1882. As president he implemented measures that sought to undermine the power of the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. He withdrew the
Concordat A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 ...
with 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 ...
and the Bishop (Catholic Church)">bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of Costa Rica from the country, and in 1884 passed laws that placed cemeteries under state control, introduced civil marriage, and legalized divorce. The most powerful figure within his government was his brother-in-law, former president José María Castro Madriz, who served as minister of foreign and religious affairs, education, justice, and public aid. During his administration the state defaulted on its financial obligations to Minor C. Keith, who was building a railway to the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
port of
Limón Limón (), also known as Puerto Limón, is the capital city of both the province and canton of the same name. One of Costa Rica's seven "middle cities" (i.e., main cities outside of San José's Greater Metropolitan Area), Limón has a populat ...
. To compensate him, cabinet minister Bernardo Soto signed a deal that gave Keith 800,000 acres (3,200 km2) of tax-free land along the railroad, plus a 99-year lease on the operation of the train route. Keith would later use those lands and his command of the railroad to build a powerful
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
trading concern (see
United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...
). President Fernández died in office shortly after declaring war on
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 ...
which, under Gen.
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 ...
, had embarked on the reunification of the dissolved
United Provinces 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 ...
. National Highway CR-27 connecting the capital city of San José with the Pacific coast's port of Caldera is named in his honor.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez Oreamuno, Prospero 1834 births 1885 deaths Politicians from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican people of Spanish descent Presidents of Costa Rica Vice presidents of Costa Rica 19th-century generals 19th-century Costa Rican people Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni Costa Rican liberals