revolutionary leader for more than 40 years, before and after the end of Spanish rule, and provisional president of Mexico in 1855.

A landowner of mestizo ancestry, Álvarez in 1811 joined José María Morelos in an unsuccessful campaign for independence from Spain. He was prominent in Antonio López de Santa Anna's (Santa Anna, Antonio López de) revolt of 1822–23, which overthrew the first ruler of independent Mexico, Agustín de Iturbide.

In 1847 Álvarez fought in the war against the United States. Two years later he became governor of the new state of Guerrero, ostensibly as a liberal. When Santa Anna reestablished his dictatorship in 1853, however, Álvarez accommodated himself to this situation as long as his hegemony in Guerrero was not threatened. In 1854, when Santa Anna tried to secure direct rule over Guerrero, Álvarez started a rebellion at Ayutla. After Santa Anna had gone into exile, Álvarez assumed control of the government and soon resigned in favour of Ignacio Comonfort, his ally in the fight against Santa Anna. The work of Álvarez and Comonfort resulted in the liberal trend known as La Reforma (Reforma, La) (“The Reform”), which culminated in the constitution of 1857.