Jorge Córdova
Jorge Córdova (23 April 1822, in La Paz – 23 October 1861) was a Bolivian general and politician who served as the 12th president of Bolivia from 1855 to 1857. He was overthrown and later assassinated.
For other people named Jorge Cordova, see Jorge Cordova (disambiguation).
Jorge Córdova
José María Linares (provisional)
23 April 1822
La Paz, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (now Bolivia)
23 October 1861 (aged 39)
La Paz, Bolivia
Edelmira Belzu Gorriti
Margarita Córdova Belzu
Francisco Córdova Belzu
Manuel Isidoro Belzu (father-in-law)
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Bolivia
Early life[edit]
Childhood[edit]
Jorge Córdova was born on April 23, 1822, in the city of La Paz, which at that time still belonged to the Viceroyalty of Peru. Of unknown parents, unfortunately Córdova had been born into a family of very humble origin belonging to the lower class of Bolivia, which led to days after his birth, and while he was still a baby, his parents deciding to abandon him, leaving him at the door of a house belonging to the Asín family, which during that time was a distinguished upper-middle class charitable family from the city of La Paz.[1]
Said family from La Paz decided to adopt him and raise him in their home, giving him the name of Jorge and later, when the boy had grown up, he himself decided to take the surname of Córdova voluntarily. He began his primary studies in 1827 at the San Francisco School, which at that time oversaw the Franciscan father José Rivero.[2] While studying at the Franciscan school, Córdova was not a distinguished student because he had never excelled in any subject for any aptitude and according to the Bolivian historian Alcides Arguedas, Córdova also did not have a moral education during his childhood, which later would bring him many problems.
Reaching almost adolescence, Córdova already had a soft and somewhat lazy character but a passionate and sensual temperament. He was expelled from his school for being lazy and undisciplined and then for being a rebellious boy he would also be expelled from the Asín home. During his early years, Córdova was very attracted to a life of laziness and adventure.[3]
Military campaigns (1834-1841)[edit]
Already on the street and looking for a safe haven, Córdova decided to enlist in the Bolivian Army in March 1834 when he was only 12 years old at the time, just as many youngsters did (his own contemporaries) during that time, adopting the arms career.[4] But due to his too young age, which prevented him from being a line soldier and in order not to expel him from the ranks, the officers then decide to send the young Córdova to an army music band where he started as a player of the Triangle (musical instrument).
Assassination[edit]
During the government of President José María de Achá, Cordova returned to Bolivia, thanks to an amnesty, but was the victim of a conspiracy by Colonel Plácido Yáñez, who accused him of allegedly conspiring against the Achá government and had him arrested at his home.
While he was under arrest, Córdova was assassinated on October 23, 1861, by order Colonel Yáñez, along with fifty other detainees, these killings were named the Matanzas de Yañez or Matanzas of Loretto.[5] Two days later, the Bolivian government sought to legalize this murder, sentencing the late former president Córdova to death, in a pantomime of a War Council, on charges of high treason.