José María Cornejo

José María Cornejo
José María Cornejo
5th and 7th Political Chief of El Salvador
	In office; 4 December 1830 – 3 April 1832
President	José Francisco Barrundia; Francisco Morazán
Preceded by	José Damián Villacorta
Succeeded by	Francisco Morazán
	In office; 30 January 1829 – 16 February 1830
President	Manuel José Arce; Mariano Beltranena y Llano; José Francisco Barrundia
Preceded by	Mariano Prado
Succeeded by	José Damián Villacorta
Personal details
Born	José María Cornejo Merino; 10 November 1788; San Vicente, New Spain
Died	24 November 1864 (aged 76); San Vicente, El Salvador
Nationality	Salvadoran
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Nicolasa de Lezama
Parent(s)	José María Cornejo; Jacoba Merino
Occupation	Politician

José María Cornejo Merino (10 November 1788 – 24 November 1864) was a Salvadoran politician. Two times he served as chief of state of El Salvador (1829–30 and 1830–32).

Early life

Cornejo was born in 1788 to José María Cornejo and Jacoba Merino. He married Nicolasa de Lezama.

In Guatemala he studied philosophy, obtaining a diploma on 14 January 1809. Later he studied canon law, but without graduating, and after that civil law, which he also did not finish. He was in Guatemala when the United Provinces of Central America approved inclusion into the First Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide. Because Cornejo opposed this union, he was sent to prison. He was freed in June 1822, and returned to El Salvador.

Career

He was a deputy to the state congress in 1826, 1827 and 1828, when El Salvador was part of the Federal Republic of Central America. Attaining considerable fame, he also became mayor of San Vicente and permanent councilman.

When elections for chief of state were convoked among the towns, Cornejo was the winner. He took possession of the government (still a state within the federation) on 30 January 1829 and governed for a little more than a year, to 16 February 1830.

He served a second term from 4 December 1830 to 30 April 1832. Federal President Francisco Morazán transferred the capital of the Federation from Guatemala City to San Salvador in December 1831, but because of opposition from Cornejo (who opposed the federation), Morazán was forced to leave San Salvador on January 6, 1832. He went to Honduras, where he awaited the arrival of more troops from Nicaragua to reenter El Salvador.

Together with Manuel José Arce Cornejo proclaimed the separation of El Salvador from the Union in 1832. On 17 March of that year the Salvadoran town of Chalatenango pronounced against Cornejo and in favor of the federal government. The town of Metapán did likewise.^[1]
Morazán attacked San Miguel, El Salvador on 28 February 1832. On 14 March 1832 in the Battle of Jocoro, he defeated Cornejo. On 28 March he defeated him again at San Salvador. Cornejo was taken prisoner and Morazán took over direct control of El Salvador. He called elections for a constituent assembly, which subsequently elected Mariano Prado chief of state and Joaquín de San Martín vice chief of state.

Cornejo was locked up in the San Francisco convent in Guatemala and never returned to politics.

References

^ El Periódico Nuevo Enfoque, March 2007 Archived 3 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine

External links

(in Spanish) Brief biography from the Salvadoran government web site
(in Spanish) Brief biography
(in Spanish) The war between Cornejo and Morazán

Political offices
Preceded by Mariano Prado	Head of State of El Salvador 1829-1830	Succeeded by José Damián Villacorta
Preceded by José Damián Villacorta	Head of State of El Salvador 1830-1832	Succeeded by Francisco Morazán

[1] El Periódico Nuevo Enfoque, March 2007 Archived 3 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

v t e Heads of state of El Salvador
Post-independence (1821–1823)	Barriere Delgado Filísola Codallos Consultive Junta^‡ Prado^†
Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1841)	J. Rodríguez Prado J. V. Villacorta Prado Cornejo J. D. Villacorta Cornejo Morazán^† J. San Martín Prado J. San Martín C. Salazar^† G. Salazar^† Escolán^† Silva Espinoza F. Gómez Vigil T. Menéndez Vigil T. Menéndez Cañas^† Morazán Silva^† Cañas^† Ramírez^† Lindo^†
Republic of El Salvador (1841–1931)	Lindo^† Arce^† Marín^† J. J. Guzmán D. Villacorta^† Marín^† J. J. Guzmán C. Molina^† Arce^† C. Molina^† Arce^† Palacios^† Malespín Palacios^† J. E. Guzmán Palacios^† Aguilar Palacios^† Aguilar Medina^† Quirós^† Vasconcelos R. Rodríguez^† Vasconcelos Dueñas^† Quirós^† Dueñas J. M. San Martín^† Dueñas V. Gómez^† J. M. San Martín Dueñas^† Campo Dueñas^† Campo Zepeda^† Santín Barrios^† Santín J. E. Guzmán^† Peralta^† Barrios Dueñas González Méndez^† González del Valle Zaldívar Guirola^† Zaldívar Figueroa^† Rosales^† F. Menéndez C. Ezeta A. Ezeta^† Gutiérrez Regalado Escalón Figueroa M. Araujo C. Meléndez^† Quiñónez^† C. Meléndez Quiñónez^† J. Meléndez Quiñónez P. Romero A. Araujo
Military presidents (1931–1979)	Civic Directory^‡ Hernández Martínez^† A. Menéndez^† Hernández Martínez A. Menéndez^† Aguirre^† Castaneda Revolutionary Council of Government^‡ Osorio Lemus Junta of Government^‡ Civic-Military Directory^‡ Cordón^† Rivera F. Sánchez A. Molina C. Romero
Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992)	Revolutionary Government Junta^‡ Magaña Duarte Cristiani
Post-Civil War (since 1992)	Cristiani Calderón Flores Saca Funes S. Sánchez Bukele C. Rodríguez^†
^† – Acting or provisional president ^‡ – Military junta

v t e Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
1800s	Hoyos Cornejo Mencía V. Rodríguez Blanco Paiz Mencía Zelaya Aguilar A. Morales San Martín Bonilla Dueñas Hernández Gómez Cabañas Gallardo Quirós S. González Chacón Gallardo Zaldívar Gallardo Chacón Zaldívar Campo Vasconcelos Larreynaga Fallos Valle Castro G. López D. López Vides Moreno Guirola Alvarado Galindo Ruíz Valle Larreynaga Pacas Pineda Vaquero Arce Durán A. Castro Pinto Medina Arriola Fallos Interiano Romero Aráuz
1900s	Arriola R. García Aráuz Novoa Mejía Aráuz R. García Martínez Pinto Novoa Meléndez F. García Batres Falla Parker M. Castro D. González J. Rodríguez F. López F. Reyes Olano Villacorta R. Morales Cierra F. Reyes Rivas Galindo Peralta Carmona Esquivel Cordón Guerrero Guardado Guerra R. Rodríguez Echeverría D'Aubuisson Castillo Guevara Alvarenga Angulo Salguero Flores Duch
2000s	Zepeda Araujo Zepeda Orellana Zepeda S. Reyes Peña Mendoza Gallegos Quijano Ponce E. Castro