José María Montealegre
Politician
1815 – 1887
Who was José María Montealegre?
José María Montealegre Fernández was President of Costa Rica from 1859 to 1863.
Born into a wealthy family of coffee plantation owners, he was sent to study medicine in Aberdeen, where he graduated as a surgeon.
He came to power through a coup d'état against Juan Rafael Mora. In the first months of his presidency he convened a constitutional conventional, which produced the Constitution of 1859.
Under the new constitution he was popularly elected to a three-year presidential term in 1860, after which he handed on the presidency, peacefully and democratically, to Jesús Jiménez.
After earning the animosity of President Tomás Guardia, Montealegre decided to leave Costa Rica. He died in San Jose, California and his mortal remains laid near Mission San Jose until they were repatriated in 1978.
His sister was Gerónima Montealegre, and his great-great-grandniece is actress Madeleine Stowe.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Mar 19, 1815
San José - Also known as
- Jose Maria Montealegre Fernandez
- Siblings
- Died
- Sep 26, 1887
San Jose
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"José María Montealegre." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 15 Jun 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/jose_maria_montealegre_fernandez>.
Discuss this José María Montealegre biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In