ZAVALA, Lorenzo de (thah-vah'-lah), Mexican statesman, born in Merida, Yucatan, 3 October, 1788; died in Harrisburg, Texas, 16 November, 1836. He studied in the Seminary of San Ildefonso, in his native city. In 1812 he participated in the revolutionary movement of Yucatan, supporting the junta de San Juan, and founding the first newspaper in the peninsula that defended Liberal principles. In May, 1814, he was arrested and sent to the castle of San Juan de Uhm, where he remained a prisoner for three years, employing his time in studying medicine and English. In 1820 he was sent as deputy for Yucatan to the Spanish cortes. He returned to Mexico in 1822, was elected to the 1st congress, and soon became a leader. After the fall of the empire under Hurbide he was the chief defender of the Federal cause in the "Aguila Mexicana" and in congress, and as president of that body signed the Federal constitution, 4 October, 1824. In 1825 he was elected senator for Yucatan in the 1st Constitutional congress, joining the Federal party, and in 1827 he became governor of the state of Mexico. After the accession of General Vicente Guerrero, he was called in 1829 to the portfolio of the treasury. When Guerrero's government was overthrown by Bustamante, Zavala travelled in the United States and Europe. In 1832, after the fall of Bustamante, he returned and was reinstated as governor of the state of Mexico, and toward the end of 1833 he was sent as minister to France, but, on the deposition of Vice-President Gomez Farias, he resigned and went to Texas, where he had extensive property. When the province rose against Mexico, in consequence of the prohibition against selling land to American citizens, Zavala joined the insurgents, who proclaimed the re-establishment of the Federal constitution of 1824, and was sent as deputy for Harrisburg to the convention of Austin, which on 7 November, 1835. declared war. He was also a member of the deputation that was sent to Washington which declared the independence of Texas, 2 March, 1836. He was the author of "Ensayo historico de las Revoluciones de Mexico, desde 1868 hasta 1830" (2 vols., Paris, 1831) and "Viaje a los Estados Unidos de Norte America" (1834).