José Napoleón Duarte

He had been in love with a girl in his neighborhood, Maria Inés Durán, since childhood. He married her upon his return from the US after completing his studies. The couple went on to have six children.

Jose Napoleon Duarte was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer in June 1988 and underwent treatment in the US.

He died on 23 February 1990, at the age of 64.

Jose Napoleon Duarte was born on 23 November, 1925, in Santa Ana, El Salvador. His father was Jose Jesus Duarte, a tailor, and his mother’s name was Amelia. His father and mother were not formally married and had several other children in addition to him.

His father had political aspirations but was unsuccessful in his attempts to get into politics. In fact, his father’s political ambitions caused him to go bankrupt and even led to his arrest.

He studied at the Liceo Salvadoreño and in his senior high school year (1944), he took part in the student protests against the then-President General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. The next year he crossed the border into Guatemala to join the opposition in exile. His political activities worried his parents who feared for his safety.

His parents decided to send him to the United States to study. He was thus sent to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana to study civil engineering. As a student he developed a liberal political approach and his stay in the US helped refine his socio-political thoughts.

He worked hard throughout his college years, supporting himself by doing dishes and laundry. He graduated in 1948 and returned to San Salvador.

Married by now, Jose Napoleon Duarte started working at his father-in-law's construction firm in San Salvador. He also took up a teaching post at the same time. Over the next several years he was content with his jobs and took little interest in politics.

His early interest in politics was rekindled in 1960 when a leftist-supported coup d'état overthrew the government of Col. José María Lemus who had been in power since 1956.

The country was thrown into political turmoil and Jose Napoleon Duarte joined other like-minded Salvadorans to found the centrist Christian Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano; PDC), which opposed the ruling National Conciliation Party (Partido de Conciliación Nacional; PCN).

He was made the party’s first secretary general. Over the next few years, the party grew rapidly and became very popular among the educated urban population. Duarte, as a principled and charismatic politician easily won the election in 1964 as mayor of San Salvador.

He proved himself to be an able mayor who genuinely cared about the citizens and was conveniently re-elected to the post in 1966 and 1968. His successful stint as a mayor motivated him to aim higher, for presidency. Thus he resigned as a mayor in 1970 to run for the president.

During his tenure as mayor, he started Adult Evening Schools to impart technical skills to adult workers.

As president, he made a determined effort to end the civil war by initiating “dialogue without arms” with the rebel guerrillas.