Licenciado José María Silva (c. 1804, San Miguel, El Salvador – October 16, 1876, San Miguel) was a Liberal Salvadoran politician. He was twice briefly chief of state of the State of El Salvador, within the Federal Republic of Central America (1834-35 and 1840). Silva was born into a well-to-do family about 1804. In 1827 he received a doctorate in law. He was a deputy to the state legislature in 1828, and its secretary in 1829. On February 4, 1858 the executive authority designated Silva and Dr. Justo Abaunza as a commission charged with editing the civil code and making penal reforms.