Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the priest of Dolores, launched Mexico’s War of Independence with the Grito de Dolores on September 16, 1810, and is honored as the Father of the Nation. This phrase is attributed to him as his defiant reply when the viceregal government offered pardons to insurgents who laid down their arms. He was captured and executed in Chihuahua in 1811.

Do not confuse him with José María Morelos, the other great insurgent priest, who continued the struggle after Hidalgo’s death and wrote the Sentimientos de la Nación.