Lorenzo de Zavala

Zavala was a newspaper publisher and politician. He was born near Merida, Yucatan in 1788 and after completing his education, he started and edited numerous newspapers that advocated for democratic reform in Mexico. His writings led to a brief imprisonment before joining forces establishing a new government in Mexico. He represented the Yucatan in the Mexican Congress, served as governor of the State of Mexico, and Secretary of Treasury before the Centralists took control of the government and Zavala was forced into exile in 1830. Zavala went to New York where he tried to drum up interest in his empresario grants, eventually selling his interest to the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company. He returned to Mexico in 1832 and in 1833, Santa Anna appointed Zavala as a minister plenipotentiary to France. When Santa Anna assumed dictatorial powers in Mexico, Zavala resigned his position and made his way to Texas where he joined the Texas independence movement. He attended the Convention of 1836 and was a signatory to the Texas Declaration of Independence. Zavala helped draft the initial Constitution for the Republic of Texas and was named the ad interim Vice President. After the war, Zavala was appointed one of the peace commissioners to Mexico and escorted Santa Anna back to Mexico. He failed to gain recognition from Mexico and returned to his home and resigned from the vice presidency. He died shortly after of pneumonia in 1836.