Luis Cordero Crespo

In 1865 he became a lawyer, arguing cases before the Supreme Court of Cuenca. After his career in law, Cordero began publishing poetry and in 1892 published the first Kichwa-Spanish dictionary.

• Name — Luis Benjamín Cordero y Crespo • Order — 14th • Office — President of Ecuador • Vice President — Pablo Herrera Vicente Lucio Salazar • Term Start — 1 July 1892 • Term End — 16 April 1895 • Predecessor — Antonio Flores Jijón • Successor — Vicente Lucio Salazar • Office2 — President of the Provisional Government of Quito • Term Start2 — 14 February 1883 • Term End2 — 9 July 1883 • Predecessor2 — José María Sarasti • Successor2 — Rafael Pérez Pareja • Office3 — Member of the Provisional Government of Quito • Term Start3 — 14 February 1883 • Term End3 — 11 October 1883 • Born — 6 April 1833 • Birthplace — Déleg, Cañar, Ecuador • Died — 30 January 1912 • Place of death — Cuenca, Ecuador • Party — Progresistas

Luis Cordero was also a politician, serving as a member of the Progresistas, a liberal Catholic political party, and was a member of the provisional governing junta which led the Progresistas to power in 1883. He was President of the Senate in 1885. In 1892 Cordero became president of Ecuador. Despite being a popular leader, Luis Cordero was forced to leave office following an international political scandal known as La venta de la bandera, or the sale of the flag. During the First Sino-Japanese War, the Ecuadorian ambassador to Chile sold weapons to Japan on behalf of Chilean businessmen, despite Chile's declared neutrality. The shipment was detained while sporting the Ecuadorian flag to cover for Chile's involvement, so the public blamed Cordero who, after a short armed conflict, was forced to resign. Former president and then-Governor of Guayas province, José María Plácido Caamaño, was discovered to be involved in the affair, so he was forced into exile where he died. In 1898 the Ecuadorian Supreme Court dropped all charges against Cordero after the Ecuadorian ambassador's involvement came to light. Luis Cordero wrote poems in Spanish and Kichwa and published the first Kichwa-Spanish-Kichwa dictionary in Ecuador in 1892.

• Dos cantos a la Raza Latina • Elogio de Malo y Solano • Poesías Jocosas • Poesías Serias • El Rimini llacta y el Cuchiquillca • El Adios • Luis Cordero (1892): Quichua Shimiyuc Panca: Quichua-Castilla, Castilla-Quichua = Diccionario Quichua Quichua-Castellano, Castellano-Quichua. Coleccion Kashcanchicracmi, 1, 427 pankakuna, 4th edition, January 1989,

Luis Cordero Crespo is recorded as poet, politician, university teacher, writer and diplomat.