The Cemetery of Distinguished Citizens (Spanish, Cementerio de los Ilustres) is a cemetery located in San Salvador and together with the Cemetery of La Barmeja, it forms the Cemetery General in San Salvador. It is the burial place of prominent families of the capital of El Salvador and many outstanding figures from the history of this country. [1]
The cemetery was blessed by Bishop Tomás Occeli on August 26, 1849 as the first civil cemetery in El Salvador. This place contains the mausoleum of the president of the Federal Republic of Central America, Francisco Morazán, whose remains had been transferred from Costa Rica. [2] [3] [4] However, in 1882, during the administration of President Rafael Zaldívar, a second mausoleum of the liberal caudillo was erected, since the first one had been damaged by the earthquake of 1873. [1] The name of the area was changed to “Pantheon of Great Men” in 1913, after the burial of the president Manuel Enrique Araujo, but over time it ended up being known as “The Distinguished Citizens”. [3]
The cemetery houses various white marble sculptures and mausoleums of artistic value that keep the remains of members of wealthy families in San Salvador. Many of the works were requested abroad, especially in Genoa, Italy, and made in Europe by artists such as Francisco Durini. [5] Various angel figures are found in different poses; religious scenes such as The Pietà; some of the monumental size and others with peculiar characteristics denote the status of the family or the life history of the deceased. Many of them have become part of the landscape of the place and popular memory. Among them it is worth mentioning the figure of Luperca breastfeeding Romulo and Remus in the mausoleum of the Assistenza Italiana (popularly called "The She-Wolf"). And another famous one, “The Bride”, is a sculpture by Lidia S. Cristales de López, who died in 1924, six months after their marriage. [6]
Some of the most important graves are:
José Gerardo Barrios Espinoza was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as president of El Salvador on three occasions between June 1858 and his overthrow in October 1863.
Doctor Manuel Enrique Araujo was a Salvadoran politician and physician who served as president of El Salvador from 1 March 1911 until his death on 9 February 1913 to his injuries sustained in an assassination attempt five days prior. Araujo is the only Salvadoran president to have been assassinated while in office.
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Emiliano José Pedrozo Cantarero is a former Argentine-born Salvadoran professional football player and currently manager.
Carlos Enrique Calderón Anaya is a Salvadoran football player.
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Roberto José d'Aubuisson Munguía is a Salvadoran politician, and the mayor of Santa Tecla since 2015. d'Aubuisson was a member of the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly from 1997 to 2015. He was also a member of the National Executive Council (COENA) of Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) from 2014 until 2016.
Félix Augusto Antonio Ulloa Garay is a Salvadoran politician and lawyer who became Vice President of El Salvador on 1 June 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic in El Salvador was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached El Salvador on 18 March 2020. As of 19 September 2021, El Salvador reported 102,024 cases, 3,114 deaths, and 84,981 recoveries. As of that date El Salvador had arrested a total of 2,424 people for violating quarantine orders, and 1,268,090 people had been tested for the virus. On 31 March 2020, the first COVID-19 death in El Salvador was confirmed.
Ateneo de El Salvador is a cultural, literary and artistic institution, founded in 1912 and whose headquarters are located in San Salvador. It has become a benchmark of national culture and prominent intellectuals from El Salvador have passed through it.
The cabinet of Nayib Bukele formed on 1 June 2019 to serve as President Nayib Bukele's cabinet from 1 June 2019 until 1 June 2024.
Barrios' War of Reunification was a war initiated by President Justo Rufino Barrios of Guatemala. His goal was to reunify Central America with himself as President. He died in battle on 2 April 1885 and peace was reached on 14 April.
General elections will be held in El Salvador on 4 February 2024 to elect the president, vice president and all 60 deputies of the Legislative Assembly. This will be followed by a second set of elections on 3 March 2024 in which voters will elect all 44 mayors and municipal councils of the country's municipalities and all 20 of El Salvador's deputies to the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN). If necessary, a second presidential round will be held on the same date if no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote in the first round.
Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara is a Salvadoran accountant who has served as presidential designate and the acting president of El Salvador since 1 December 2023. She assumed presidential powers and duties after President Nayib Bukele was granted a leave of absence by the Legislative Assembly to focus on his 2024 re-election campaign, which some constitutional lawyers have argued violates the country's constitution.
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