Juan Nepomuceno Álvarez Hurtado de Luna, generally known as Juan Álvarez, (27 January 1790 – 21 August 1867) was a general, long-time caudillo (regional leader) in southern Mexico, and interim president of Mexico for two months in 1855, following the liberals ouster of Antonio López de Santa Anna. Álvarez had risen to power in the Tierra Caliente, in southern Mexico with the support of indigenous peasants whose lands he protected. He fought along with heroes of the insurgency, José María Morelos and Vicente Guerrero in the War of Independence, and went on to fight in all the major wars of his day, from the "Pastry War", to the Mexican–American War, and the War of the Reform to the war against the French Intervention. A liberal reformer, a republican and a federalist, he was the leader of a revolution in support of the Plan de Ayutla in 1854, which led to the deposition of Santa Anna from power and the beginning of the political era in Mexico\'s history known as the Liberal Reform. "Álvarez was most important as a champion of the incorporation of Mexico\'s peasant masses into the polity of [Mexico] ... advocating universal male suffrage and municipal autonomy."\n', '

Juan Álvarez was born on 27 January 1790 at Santa María de la Concepción de Atoyac, now Atoyac de Álvarez, Mexico. He was a criollo of Spanish heritage. His father was a wealthy ranchero of Galician descent, from Santiago de Compostela, and his mother was from a rich family from Mexico\'s Pacific Ocean port of Acapulco. Because of his Spanish roots, Álvarez would be known as "The Galician" during the Mexican Independence war. He studied in primary school in Mexico City, but returned to his native town at age 17 to receive his inheritance. He worked as a cowboy and in the fields.\n', '

In November 1810, at the age of 20, he joined the fight for Mexican independence as a private under the command of José María Morelos y Pavón. He fought in the battles of Aguacatillo, Tres Palos, Arroyo del Moledor, Tonaltepec and La Sabana, soon rising to the rank of captain. Before the year was out, he was wounded by a ball that pierced both legs, and he was given the command of the Guadalupe Regiment. In the assault on Tixtla on 15 May 1811, he was wounded again. He was now a colonel.\n', '

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