Rafael Guirola Duke

Rafael Guirola Duke
Guirola in c. 1916
Minister of Finance and Public Credit of El Salvador
In office
1 March 1911 – 9 February 1913
PresidentManuel Enrique Araujo
Preceded byDomingo López
Succeeded byTomás García Palomo
In office
1892 – 9 June 1894
PresidentCarlos Ezeta
Preceded byReyes Arrieta Rossi
Succeeded byCornelio Lemus
Personal details
Born4 October 1864
Zacatecoluca, El Salvador
Died23 April 1919(1919-04-23) (aged 54)
Nueva San Salvador, El Salvador
SpouseClaudia Matamoros
Parent(s)Ángel Guirola
Cordelia Duke Alexander
OccupationPolitician, diplomat

Rafael Guirola Duke (4 October 1864 – 23 April 1919) was a Salvadoran politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Finance from 1892 to 1894 and from 1911 to 1913.

Career

Rafael Guirola Duke was born on 4 October 1864 in Zacatecoluca, El Salvador.[1] His parents were Ángel Guirola (the acting president of El Salvador in 1884) and Cordelia Duke Alexander from Kingston, Jamaica.[2][3] Guirola had 6 siblings: José Adalberto, Ángel, Eduardo, Gertrudis, Cordelia Julia, and Matilde.[1]

From 1892 to 1884, Guirola served as minister of finance and public credit under President General Carlos Ezeta. Guirola was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador in 1895.[1] Guirola ran in the 1907 presidential election. He only won 16 votes, all from La Libertad, and finished in fourth place.[4]

From March 1911 to February 1913, Guirola served as minister of finance and public credit under President Manuel Enrique Araujo.[5] Araujo also appointed Guirola as El Salvador's ambassador to Belgium, France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. During a state visit to Spain, King Alfonso XIII awarded Guirola the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.[1]

In 1916, Guirola was El Salvador's ambassador to Costa Rica.[6] Guirola was elected as the honorary president of the Subcommittee of Physical Culture in 1918.[1]

Guirola died on 23 April 1919 in Nueva San Salvador, El Salvador (modern-day Santa Tecla).[1]

Personal life

Guirola married Claudia Matamoros, a Costa Rican woman.[6]

Guirola owned four coffee plantations in Nueva San Salvador known as El Paraíso, La Asunción, San Luis, and San Rafael. In 1910, these four plantations produced a combined 300,000 pounds (140,000 kg) of coffee.[7]

Electoral history

Year Office Type Party Main opponent Party Votes for Guirola Result Swing Ref
Total % P. ±%
1907 President of El Salvador General Independent Fernando Figueroa Liberal 16 0.01 4th N/A Lost Hold [4]

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Bernal Ramírez, Luis Guillermo & Quijano de Batres, Ana Elia, eds. (2009). Historia 2 El Salvador [History 2 El Salvador] (PDF). Historia El Salvador (in Spanish). Ministry of Education. ISBN 9789992363683. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  • "Cuadro Demonstrativo de los Votos Emitidos para Presidente y Vice Presidente de la República en el Período de 1907 a 1911" [Demonstrative Table of the Votes Cast for President and Vice President of the Republic for the Period of 1907 to 1911] (PDF). Diario Oficial (in Spanish). Vol. 62, no. 48. 26 February 1907. p. 354. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  • Hernández, Nancy & Martínez, Omar (25 April 2021). "Special: Peculiaridades Familia Guirola, ¿Por Qué Rafael Guirola Duke Llevaba un Limón a Sus Viajes Diplomáticos?" [Special: Peculiarities of the Guirola Family, Why Did Rafael Guirola Duke Carry a Lemon on His Diplomatic Trips?]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  • Historia del Órgano Legislativo de la República de El Salvador [History of the Legislative Organ of the Republic of El Salvador] (PDF) (in Spanish) (III ed.). Legislative Assembly of El Salvador. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  • Leistenschneider, María & Leistenschneider, Freddy (1980). Gobernantes de El Salvador: Biografías [Governors of El Salvador: Biographies] (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. OCLC 7876291. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  • Ward, L.A., ed. (1916). Libro Azul de El Salvador: Histórico y Descriptivo, Comercio e Industrías, Hechos Datos y Recursos [Blue Book of Salvador: Historical and Descriptive, Commercial and Industrial, Facts Figures and Resources] (PDF) (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador: Latin American Publicity Bureau. OCLC 16103876. Retrieved 23 May 2025.