Joaquín Zavala

President of Nicaragua

30 October 1835 Managua, Federal Republic of Central America

30 December 1906(1906-12-30) (71) Managua, Nicaragua

16 July 1893 – 25 July 1893 (Acting)

Joaquín Zavala Solís (30 November 1835 in Managua – 30 December 1906 in Managua) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 March 1879 to 1 March 1883 and from 16 July to 15 September 1893. He was a member of the Conservative Party of Nicaragua. He is now remembered especially for having thwarted the request of the young Rubén Darío, later to become one of the most well-known Spanish-language poets, for a government scholarship to study in Europe. In 1882 Darío, then 15 years old, read some of his poetry to a group including the President - whereupon Zavala reportedly reproved him: "My son, if you so write against the religion of your fathers and their homeland now, what will become of you if you go to Europe and learn worse things?"