José Damián Villacorta

José Damián Villacorta
José Damián Villacorta
Head of State of El Salvador
	In office; 16 February 1830 – 4 December 1830; Acting Head of State
Vice President	Himself
Preceded by	José María Cornejo
Succeeded by	José María Cornejo
2nd Vice Head of State of El Salvador
	In office; 30 January 1829 – 3 April 1832
President	José María Cornejo
Preceded by	Mariano Prado
Succeeded by	Joaquín de San Martín (acting)
57th President of the National Assembly of El Salvador
	In office; 8 May 1835 – 22 May 1835
Preceded by	Mariano Antonio de Lara
Succeeded by	Luis Ayala
13th President of the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador
	In office; 1851–1857
Preceded by	José Miguel Montoya
Succeeded by	Ulloa Cruz
Deputy of the National Assembly of El Salvador
	In office; 14 January 1835 – 22 May 1835
Personal details
Born	José Damián Villacorta Cañas; 1796; Zacatecoluca, San Salvador, New Spain, Spanish Empire
Died	11 June 1860 (aged 63–64); Nueva San Salvador, El Salvador
Party	Independent
Spouse	Francisca de la Cotera
Alma mater	University of San Carlos
Occupation	Politician, lawyer

José Damián Villacorta Cañas (1796 – 11 June 1860) was a Salvadoran politician and lawyer who served as the head of state of El Salvador in 1830, then a part of the Federal Republic of Central America. He also served as the vice head of state of El Salvador from 1829 to 1832, the president of the National Assembly in 1835, and the president of the Supreme Court of Justice from 1851 to 1857.

Biography

José Damián Villacorta Cañas was born in 1796 in Zacatecoluca, San Salvador, then a part of New Spain and the Spanish Empire. His parents were Esteban Gabriel de Villacorta and María Ignacia de Cañas. He attended the University of San Carlos in Guatemala City where he graduated as a licentiate of civil law.^[1] He also studied canon law. He married Francisca de la Cotera.^[2]

Villacorta was a leader of the independence movement in El Salvador. In 1824, he was a member of Constituent Assembly that drafted El Salvador's first constitution. At some point, Villacorta was a prosecutor for the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador.^[1]

Villacorta was the vice head of state of El Salvador under Head of State José María Cornejo from 1829 to 1832. During this period, he served as the acting head of state of El Salvador from 16 February to 4 December 1830. In 1832, Villacorta was arrested by Francisco Morazán, the president of the Federal Republic of Central America (of which El Salvador was a member) and he was extradited to Guatemala.^[1] He eventually returned to El Salvador and was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly in 1835.^[2] He was the president of the National Assembly of El Salvador from 8 to 22 May 1835.^[3] After this, he left El Salvador to operate his businesses in Guatemala where he declined an offer to become President of Central America in 1840.^[2] Villacorta returned to El Salvador in 1843. At some point, he worked as a law professor at the University of El Salvador and served as its vice rector and later acting rector.^[1]

Villacorta served as the president of the Supreme Court of Justice from 1851 to 1858.^[4] During his tenure, he helped establish the city of Nueva San Salvador, a city intended to replace San Salvador as El Salvador's capital city following the 1854 earthquake. He moved the Supreme Court of Justice's headquarters to Nueva San Salvador in December 1856.^[1] He refused an order from President Gerardo Barrios to move the court to Cojutepeque for which he was sentenced to death.^[2]

Villacorta died in Nueva San Salvador, El Salvador on 11 June 1860. He was buried at the Old Belén Church.^[2]

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 29.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cañas Dinarte & Scarlett Cortez 2006, p. 68.
^ Cañas Dinarte & Scarlett Cortez 2006, p. 65.
^ Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador 2024.

Bibliography

Cañas Dinarte, Carlos & Scarlett Cortez, Violeta (2006). Aguilar Avilés, Gilberto & De Aguilar, Lilian (eds.). Historia del Órgano Legislativo de la República de El Salvador: 1824–2006 [History of the Legislative Organ of the Republic of El Salvador: 1826–2006] (PDF) (in Spanish) (I ed.). San Salvador, El Salvador: Albacrome. OCLC 319689765. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
Leistenschneider, María & Leistenschneider, Freddy (1980). Gobernantes de El Salvador: Biografías [Governors of El Salvador: Biographies] (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. OCLC 7876291. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
"Presidentes del Órgano Judicial" [Presidents of the Judicial Branch]. Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador (in Spanish). 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2026.

External links

"Presidents of El Salvador – Lic. José Damián Villacorta" [Presidents of El Salvador – Lic. José Damián Villacorta]. Government of El Salvador (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2007.

[FOOTNOTELeistenschneiderLeistenschneider198029-1] Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 29.

[FOOTNOTECañas_DinarteScarlett_Cortez200668-2] Cañas Dinarte & Scarlett Cortez 2006, p. 68.

[FOOTNOTECañas_DinarteScarlett_Cortez200665-3] Cañas Dinarte & Scarlett Cortez 2006, p. 65.

[FOOTNOTESupreme_Court_of_Justice_of_El_Salvador2024-4] Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador 2024.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

Heads of state of El Salvador
List of 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^† Escolán^† Espinoza* F. Gómez^†* Vigil T. Menéndez^† Vigil T. Menéndez^† Cañas^†* Morazán* Silva^† Municipal Council of San Salvador Cañas^† Ramírez^† Lindo^†
Republic of El Salvador (1841–1931)	Lindo^† Arce^† Lindo Marín^†* J. J. Guzmán* D. Villacorta^† Marín^†* J. J. Guzmán* Arce^† J. J. Guzmán* Palacios^† Malespín* J. E. Guzmán^†* Malespín* J. E. Guzmán^†* Palacios^† J. E. Guzmán^†* Palacios^† Aguilar Palacios^† Aguilar Medina^† Quirós^† Vasconcelos R. Rodríguez^† Quirós^† Vasconcelos Dueñas^† Quirós^† Dueñas^† J. M. San Martín^†* Dueñas V. Gómez^† J. M. San Martín* J. Hernández^†* J. M. San Martín* Dueñas^† Campo Dueñas^† Campo Zepeda^† Santín* Barrios^†* Santín* J. E. Guzmán^†* Peralta^† Barrios* 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 dictatorship (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 * – Military president

Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
1800s	Delgado Calderón M. Fagoaga Sagastume M. Romero J. San Martín B. González Unknown J.M. Rodríguez J. Castro Ximénez J.J. Arce Marín Cornejo J. Castro M. Lara F. Gómez Cornejo Guzmán León J. López J. Durán Cisneros Cornejo Funes Pineda Enríquez Funes Colom Garay A. Paiz Ximénez F. González Cañas A. Molina G. Paiz Cañas A. Rivas F. González Delgado D. Fagoaga Padilla D. Lara Montoya Murga Avilés J. Castillo Alegría F. Saldaña Unknown Silva Unknown Guzmán J. Campo J. Saldaña M. Lara J. Villacorta Ayala Angulo Mencía Barberena J.R. Molina Menéndez M. Morales Morán J.D. Molina Ayala Silva M. Aguilar P. Lara F. Castillo Barberena Montoya Guzmán Hoyos Cornejo Mencía V. Rodríguez Blanco A. Paiz Mencía Zelaya E. Aguilar A. Morales J.M. San Martín Bonilla Dueñas Hernández I. Gómez Cabañas Gallardo Quirós S. González Chacón Gallardo Zaldívar Gallardo Chacón Zaldívar R. Campo Vasconcelos Larreynaga Fallos A. Valle M. Castro G. López D. López Vides Moreno Guirola Alvarado Galindo Ruiz J. Valle Larreynaga Pacas Vaquero J.D. Arce O. Durán A. Castro Pinto Medina Arriola Fallos Interiano T. Romero Aráuz
1900s	Arriola R. García Aráuz Novoa Mejía Aráuz R. García Martínez Pinto Meléndez F. García Batrés Falla Parker M. Castro D. González J.A. Rodríguez F. López F. Reyes Olano H. Villacorta R. Morales Unknown Cierra F. Reyes R. Rivas Galindo Peralta Carmona Esquivel Cordón Guerrero Guardado Guerra R. Rodríguez Echeverría D'Aubuisson M. Castillo Guevara Alvarenga Angulo Salguero Flores Duch
2000s	Cruz Zepeda Araujo Cruz Zepeda Orellana Cruz Zepeda S. Reyes Peña Gallegos Quijano Ponce E. Castro

Biography

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links