Francisco Morazan's Birthday in 2024

When is Francisco Morazan's Birthday?

Francisco Morazan's Birthday is a public holiday in Honduras. The holiday marks the birthday of Francisco Morazán, who was born on October 3rd 1792. The date of the holiday may change to accommodate other important holidays that take place in Honduras in October each year.

There are three public holidays in October in Honduras. In recent years, these have been bundled together into one long break at the start of October in order to stimulate the tourism sector.

The public sector enjoys a full week of holidays with the private sector getting in on the holiday action from midday on the Wednesday of the holiday week.

History of Francisco Morazan's Birthday

As the nation of Honduras emerged from the Spanish Empire, one man stands out in his political and military contribution to the nation and Central America, Francisco Morazan. Morazan's importance to the country is reflected in that he is the only Honduran who has a public holiday named after him.

Morazán was born on October 3rd 1792 in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, which at that time was in the Captaincy General of Guatemala, an administrative division of the Spanish Empire.

In 1821, after the Captaincy General of Guatemala became independent from Spain, Morazán became involved in local politics and enlisted as a volunteer to oppose Mexico’s annexation of Central America.

In 1823 Central America broke away from Mexico, with the five states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica becoming unified. In 1824, Jose Manuel Arce was elected president, Thought of as a liberal, Arce instead supported conservative ideals of a strong central government with ties to a powerful Catholic church.

In 1824, Morazán's uncle Dionisio de Herrera was elected as head of state in Honduras and followed a more liberal path. When Arce sent troops to bring the rebellious Hondurans to heel, Morazan led the defence but was defeated and captured. He escaped and took charge of a small army in Nicaragua. The army marched on Honduras and captured it at the Battle of La Trinidad on November 11th 1827. This victory gave Morazan a level of fame in Central America, and in 1830 he was elected to serve as president of the Federal Republic of Central America.

Morazan's liberal reforms in the new Federal Republic of Central America angered the conservatives leading to several revolts against his rule. The revolts all failed until 1837 when Rafael Carrera led an uprising in eastern Guatemala. Carrera's success rallied other forces to his side and by 1839, the area under Morazan's control had reduced and the various states started to secede from the union. Carrera’s forces finally defeated Morazan, who was went into exile in Colombia.

In 1842 he returned to attempt the restoration of the federation. He attacked and defeated the forces of the Costa Rican dictator Braulio Carillo, but the Costa Ricans turned on him, and he was executed on September 15th 1842. His final words were: "posterity will do us justice."

Morazan is now viewed as a visionary, progressive leader and able commander who fought to unite Central America. 

Apart from this public holiday, the legacy of Morazan is honoured in Honduras and El Salvador, where there are provinces named after him, as well as many parks, streets, schools, and businesses.