Unknown photographer（佚名摄影师） · Public domain
1861–1872
Benito Juárez, full name Benito Pablo Juárez García
Benito Juárez · 墨西哥
19th-century Mexican president (1861–1872) and national hero, a Zapotec politician who led liberal reform and resistance to French intervention.
Born on 21 March 1806 in San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, into a Zapotec Indigenous family, he lost both parents as a child, walked to Oaxaca City at 12 to study, later studied law and served as judge and governor; in the 1850s he led the "Reform Movement" (La Reforma), advocating separation of church and state and a constitutional federation; from 1858 he served as president, led the liberals to victory in the Reform War, and during the French intervention of 1862–1867 persisted in resistance until Emperor Maximilian was executed at Querétaro in 1867; he died in office in Mexico City in 1872.
People & stories
Places in their life
Birthplace San Pablo Guelatao (Oaxaca); places of activity Oaxaca City and Mexico City; burial place Panteón de San Fernando, Mexico City (according to the Wikipedia entry, his funeral in 1872 was the last recorded burial in that cemetery).
People
Cultural significance
Mexico's first Indigenous president and holder of the title "Benemérito de las Américas" ("Meritorious of the Americas"); his saying "Respect for the rights of others is peace" is carved on his tomb; the Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca is named after him.
