José María Montealegre Fernández

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José María Montealegre President of Costa Rica Term of office: 14 August 1859 to 8 May 1863 – Preceded by: Juan Rafael Mora Porras – Succeeded by: Jesús Jiménez Zamora Date of birth: 19 March 1815 Place of birth: San José Date of death: 26 September 1887 Place of death: San José, Calif., USA Party:

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 Porras. 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 Zamora.

After earning the animosity of President Tomás Guardia, Montealegre decided to leave Costa Rica. He died in San Jose, California, where his mortal remains laid until they were repatriated in 1978.