Nicolás Zúñiga y Miranda

Nicolás Zúñiga y Miranda (13 May 1865 – 8 July 1925) was a Mexican eccentric who was famous for being a perennial candidate in his country's presidential elections.

After this success, he predicted that on August 10 of the same year Mexico City would be completely destroyed by simultaneous eruptions of the Cerro del Peñón and the Popocatépetl, which caused several inhabitants to leave the capital at that date.

In 1896, 1900, 1904, and 1910 he again participated in the presidential elections, every time with the same result: he received only a small number of votes, claimed fraud, and declared himself to be president.

The Díaz government considered him to be a madman who was amusing rather than dangerous and decided not to take action against him any more, while for the Mexican population he served as a way to laugh about the lack of democracy in the country.

Zúñiga y Miranda has a prominent spot in Diego Rivera's painting Dream on a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda and made an appearance in the movie México de mis recuerdos in 1943, in which he was played by Max Langler.