José María Juan Nepomuceno Crisóforo Iglesias Inzáurraga (5 January 1823 – 17 December 1891)[1] was a Mexican lawyer, professor, journalist and liberal politician.

[1] President Lerdo was overthrown and Porfirio Díaz emerged as the victor in the ensuing power struggles, after which Iglesias went into exile to the United States.

José María Iglesias was born into a wealthy family in Mexico City, but when he was 12 his father died.

He studied law at the Colegio Gregoriano in Mexico City, graduating with good marks, and was admitted to the bar in 1844.

In 1856, he was named chief clerk of the Treasury Department under President Ignacio Comonfort and later secretary of justice (January to May 1857).

[citation needed] With the fall of Puebla to the French on 17 May 1863, President Benito Juárez was forced to abandon Mexico City.

In September, Juárez named him secretary of justice, a position he continued to hold until the Republican government returned to the capital in 1867 after the expulsion of Emperor Maximilian.

By December, the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, Jalisco and San Luis Potosí had recognized him as president.

[citation needed] Meanwhile, Lerdo de Tejada was forced to abandon the capital after losing the Battle of Tecoac (Puebla) to General Porfirio Díaz.

His forces under Antillón were defeated at Los Adobes, and he fled with his cabinet and General Ceballos to Manzanillo, Colima.