Patriotic Heroes

José Trinidad Cabañas

José Trinidad Cabañas (9 June 1805 – 8 January 1871) served as President of Honduras for two separate terms: From 1 March to 6 July 1852. And 31 December 1853 to 6 June 1855. He was a General and liberal politician whose role in Honduran history began during the Civil War 1826-29. He became a Central America hero, when he attempted to reunite Central America,during Francisco Morazán's tenure and after the unionist's death.

During his second term as President, Cabañas attempted to build the railroad in Honduras. He was supported by the common Central American people, but his liberal beliefs were not accepted by the conservatives, then holding power. He was popularly known as being "The gentleman without blemish and without fear"

Dionisio de Herrera 

José Dionisio de la Trinidad de Herrera y Díaz del Valle (9 October 1781 in Choluteca, Honduras – 13 June 1850 in San Vicente, El Salvador) was a Liberal Honduran politician, head of state of Honduras from 1824 to 1827 and head of state of Nicaragua from 1830 to 1833. During his terms, Honduras and Nicaragua were states within the Federal Republic of Central America. Herrera was an uncle of the Liberal Central American general Francisco Morazán.

From a land-owning family, Herrera studied at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, where he earned a law degree and came in contact with the liberal ideas of the French Revolution. He was a tutor of his nephew, General Morazán.

In 1820 he occupied his first public office, as secretary of the town government of Tegucigalpa. On 16 September 1824 he became the first head of state of Honduras, after the independence of Central America from Spain and from Mexico. Colonel José Justo Millawas his vice-head of state. During his term he decreed the first territorial subdivisions of Honduras, creating the departments of Comayagua, Tegucigalpa, Santa Bárbara, Yoro, Olancho and Choluteca (department). He also promulgated the first constitution of the country (state), on 11 December 1825.

The government of Herrera was overthrown on 10 May 1827 in a coup d'état led by Colonel Milla and aided by Honduran Conservatives. Herrera was sent as a prisoner to Guatemala, where he remained until 1829.

Thereafter he was elected head of state of Nicaragua, taking office on 12 May 1830. He exercised this office until November 1833, relying on the support of General Morazán. He tried to implement various Liberal reforms, but unsuccessfully, due to the opposition of the clergy. In 1835 he was elected head of state of El Salvador, but he declined the office. In 1838 he retired from politics, working as a teacher in the city of San Vicente, El Salvador. He remained there until his death in 1850.

Lempira

Lempira (Spanish: lem-pee’-rah) was a war chieftain of the Lencas of western Honduras in Central America during the 1530s, when he led resistance to Francisco de Montejo's attempts to conquer and incorporate the region into the province of Honduras. Mentioned as Lempira in documents written during the Spanish conquest, he is still regarded as a warrior who offered resistance against the Spanish conquistadors.

Jorge Lardé y Larín argues that the name Lempira comes from the word Lempira, which in turn comes from two words of the Lenca language: from lempa, meaning "lord" as a title of hierarchy, i meaning "of", and era, meaning "hill or mountain". Thus, Lempira, means "lord of the mountain" or "lord of the hill". When the Spaniards arrived in Cerquin, Lempira was fighting against neighboring chiefs, but because of their threat, he allied with the Lenca subgroup of Cares thus unifying the different Lenca tribes. Based in Cerquin hill, he organized resistance against the Spanish troops in 1537, managing to gather an army of almost 30,000 soldiers, from 200 villages. As a result, other groups also took up arms in the valley of Comayagua and Olancho. Spanish attempts to stop him, led by Francisco de Montejo and Alonso de Cáceres, but unsuccessfully until 1537.

Francisco Morazán

Francisco Morazán ( [fɾanˈsisko moɾaˈsan]; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a Honduran politician who was President of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president of Central America he was head of state of Honduras, He rose to prominence at the legendary Battle of La Trinidad on November 11, 1827. Since then, and until his execution in 1842, Morazán dominated the political and military scene of Central America.

In the political arena, Francisco Morazán was recognized as a visionary and great thinker, as he attempted to transform Central America into one large and progressive nation. He enacted liberal reforms in the new Federal Republic of Central America, including freedom of the press, speech and religion. Morazán also limited church power by making marriage secular and abolishing government-aided tithing.

These reforms made him some powerful enemies, and his period of rule was marked by bitter infighting between liberals and conservatives. But through his military skills, Morazán was able to keep a firm grip on power until 1837, when the Federal Republic became irrevocably fractured. This was exploited by the conservative leaders, who rallied around the leadership of Rafael Carrera and in order to protect their own interests, ended up dividing Central America into five nations

José Trinidad Reyes 

The Father José Trinidad Reyes y Sevilla (June 11, 1797 – September 20, 1855) is considered Honduras' national hero and is the founder of the Autonomous National University of Honduras, formerly called "La Sociedad del Genio emprendedor y del buen gusto" ("The Society of the Enterprising Genius and Good Taste"). He was a fighter against poverty and its causes, assisting the poor and insisting on their right to education in matters of faith, culture and science.

As contributions to culture wrote several pastorelas, reconstructed by Rómulo Durón, which are the first theatrical manifestations in Central America, and whose thereof representation established bases for the subsequent appearance of theatre in Honduras. These pastorelas was presented by Father Reyes in the Tegucigalpa's churches, one of these is "Navidad nuestra" ("Our Christmas"), which over time has converted a classic of Honduran contemporary theater owing to its harmonious mixing of different traditions presents on Honduran Christmas.

Reyes was a polemicist in favor of women's rights, this it is see reflected in his pastorelas, in which the female characters have much voice. Is celebrated a his document appeared under the pseudonym of Sofía Seyers, which is all a feminist manifesto, where Reyes pleads for that it will be realized on women the most basic right of education. Many of ideas expressed by Reyes in this article are inspired by the socialist French women and the illustrated ideas of French Revolution, of which the Father Reyes was a great divulger during his politic facet. Reyes had a willingness common to Enlightenment, the beast of Humanism and Sacred art.

He was convinced of the arts' importance (theatre particularly) as instrument for to civilize and to do to progress to the nations. During his life in Tegucigalpa fought big battles against fanaticism's excesses and the politic and religion superstition.