Victoria, Guadalupe (1785–1842)

Guadalupe Victoria (b. 29 September 1785; d. 21 March 1842), Mexican revolutionary leader and president (1824–1829). Born in Tamazula, Durango, under the name Miguel Fernández y Félix, he studied law at the College of San Ildefonso but abandoned his studies in 1811 to join Morelos's forces, changing his name to Guadalupe Victoria in honor of the Mexican Virgin and for victory. He emerged as one of the major insurgent leaders after Morelos was killed.

Accepting the Plan of Iguala in 1821, Victoria was soon jailed for his opposition to Emperor Iturbide. In 1824 he became Mexico's first president. Although he attempted to consolidate the new government by avoiding excesses and refusing to side with either the Escoceses (Scottish rite Masons) or the Yorkinos (York rite Masons), he proved unable to transfer his office peacefully to Manuel Gómez Pedraza in 1829. Victoria's administration suffered from lack of funds and an inability to control the radical mass politics that divided the nation. Thereafter, he retired from public life because of chronic illness.

See alsoPlan of Iguala .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Romeo Flores Caballero, Counterrevolution: The Role of the Spaniards in the Independence of Mexico (1974), pp. 47-124.

Michael P. Costeloe, La Primera República Federal de México, 1824–1835 (1975), pp. 11-216.

Stanley C. Green, The Mexican Republic: The First Decade, 1823–1832 (1987), pp. 41-161.

Elmer W. Flacus, "Guadalupe Victoria: Mexican Patriot and First President" (diss., University of Texas, 1951).

Jaime E. Rodríguez O., "Mexico's First Foreign Loans," in his The Independence of Mexico and the Creation of the New Nation (1989), pp. 215-235.

Additional Bibliography

Briseño Senosiain, Lillian, María Laura Solares Robles, and Laura Suárez de la Torre. Guadalupe Victoria, primer presidente de México, 1786–1843. Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública: Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. José María Luis Mora, 1986.

Campa Mendoza, Víctor. Homenaje al general Guadalupe Victoria: Primer presidente constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Durango, Mexico: Instituto Tecnológico de Durango, 2004.

                                Jaime E. RodrÍguez O.