Joaquín Zavala

Joaquín Zavala Solís (30 November 1835 Managua – 30 December 1906 Managua) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 March 1879 to 1 March 1883 and from 16 to 25 July 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?"^[1]

References

1. (Spanish)Humberto C. Garza, Biografía de Rubén Darío, los-poetas.com. Accessed online 7 March 2007. "Hijo mío, si asi escribes ahora contra la religión de tus padres y de tu patria, que será si te vas a Europa a aprender cosas peores?"