José Mariano Michelena

Conspiracy of Valladolid

Impelled by news of the French occupation of Spain, they planned an armed revolution in Celaya, San Miguel el Grande, and Zamora. Michelena was sent to Guanajuato to recruit rebels. The conspiracy was uncovered on December 21, 1809, and the conspirators were arrested and confined in the convent of El Carmen. Archbishop Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont, then viceroy, ordered them brought to Mexico City.

Their defense was that they were faithful patriots preserving the country for King Ferdinand VII. They proposed forming a junta to govern in Ferdinand's name. Lizana found no criminal offense and ordered them freed. Michelena returned to duty in Jalapa.

War in Spain

When the revolt led by Father Miguel Hidalgo started in September 1810, Michelena found himself under arrest once more. He was confined at San Juan de Ulúa in Veracruz until 1813, then shipped to Spain.

His time in prison left him with a bad case of rheumatism. Once in Spain, he enlisted in a military unit that fought the French, taking part in several battles, such as the seizure of Bayonne in February 1814. He stayed in the army, and in 1820 he became a deputy in the Cortes, representing Michoacán.

Supreme Executive Power

After Iturbide's abdication, Congress chose a triumvirate of Generals Pedro Celestino Negrete, Nicolás Bravo, and Guadalupe Victoria to exercise executive power. Michelena led the triumvirate while holding the position (1822–24), effectively acting as president of Mexico. He voided the Treaty of Córdoba and the Plan of Iguala. He was subsequently nominated minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain.

Later career and death

José Mariano Michelena’s travels took him through Rome, Greece, Palestine, and Arabia. It was in Arabia that he obtained coffee plants, which he then cultivated on his hacienda near Uruapan, marking Mexico’s first successful coffee harvest. He later represented his country at Simón Bolívar’s Congress of America in Panama. Though a federalist who opposed a centralized government, he accepted the role of minister of war from April to October 1837 under the Centralist Republic.

He also served as governor of Michoacán. A Freemason, Michelena helped introduce the York Rite to Mexico. He passed away in 1852 in Valladolid, his birthplace.

Did You Know?

• He graduated as a lawyer from the University of Mexico.
• He enlisted in the infantry regiment La Corona in 1806 as a lieutenant.
• He fought against Emperor Agustín de Iturbide as an adherent of the Plan of Casa Mata.