Segismundo Moret
Segismundo Moret | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Prime Minister of Spain | |
| In office 1 December 1905 – 6 July 1906 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII |
| Preceded by | Eugenio Montero Ríos |
| Succeeded by | José López Domínguez |
| In office 30 November 1906 – 4 December 1906 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII |
| Preceded by | José López Domínguez |
| Succeeded by | Antonio González de Aguilar |
| In office 21 October 1909 – 9 February 1910 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII |
| Preceded by | Antonio Maura |
| Succeeded by | José Canalejas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Segismundo Moret y Prendergast |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Signature |  |
Segismundo Moret y Prendergast (2 June 1833 – 28 January 1913) was a Spanish politician and writer. He was prime minister of Spain in three occasions and president of the Congress of Deputies in two occasions.
Biography
He was born in Cádiz on 2 June 1833. His mother's family, the Prendergasts, were of Irish descent. He studied at the Universidad Central in Madrid where in 1858 he became professor of political economy, continuing at the same time his studies in jurisprudence.
In 1863 he was elected representative to parliament as an independent representing the town of Almadén in the province of Ciudad Real. He was reelected in 1868 after the Revolution of 1868 and he took part in the writing of the new Spanish Constitution of 1869. He was noted for his eloquence.
As Overseas Minister of Overseas in the government presided by General Prim in 1870, Moret (himself a member of the Spanish Abolitionist Society)[1] pushed for the abolition of slavery and the creation of a constitution for Puerto Rico. In 1871 he was Minister of the Treasury (hacienda) in the first government of King Amadeo I and in 1872 he was appointed ambassador in London but resigned after some months and accepted a directorship in a large British bank.
With the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the Spanish throne in 1875 he returned to Spain where he founded the Partido Democrático-Monárquico party. He was again elected deputy for Ciudad Real in 1879, rallied to the monarchy in 1882. In 1883 he was appointed Minister of the Interior (Gobernación) and after 1885 he joined the Liberal Party in which he cooperated with Práxedes Mateo Sagasta as Minister of State (estado, foreign affairs, 1885–1888), Interior (Gobernación, 1888, 1901, 1902), Development (Fomento) (1892), State (Estado, foreign affairs, 1892, 1894) and Overseas Colonies (Ultramar, 1897–1898). When Sagasta died he participated in the quarrels for the control of the party.
In 1897 as Minister for Overseas Colonies (Ultramar) he decreed the autonomy for Cuba and Puerto Rico in a vain attempt to avoid their secession. He opposed the war with the United States in 1898.[2] In 1902 he collaborated in the creation of the Institute of Social Reform which was a precursor of the future Ministry of Labor.
In 1905, after the resignation of Montero Rios he became prime minister but he was forced to resign in July 1906 when he lost the majority in the parliament (Cortes Generales) although he became again prime minister for a brief period of the same year (30 November – 4 December).
After the bloody confrontations of the "Tragic Week" in 1909 in Barcelona he was again appointed prime minister after the resignation of Antonio Maura while he was also Minister of the Interior. He was forced to resign in February 1910 when he was replaced by José Canalejas. He denounced the Canalejas Ministry as 'a democratic flag being used to cover reactionary merchandise'.[3]
In 1912, after the assassination of prime minister Canalejas and the appointment of new prime minister, Álvaro Figueroa Torres, Count of Romanones, Moret was elected as the 155th president of the Congress of Deputies which he was until his death on 28 January 1913. This was his second term as speaker of the Spanish lower house; from July 15, 1901 to April 3, 1902 he served as the 147th speaker.
See also
References
- ^ Fradera, Josep Maria (2015). La nación imperial (1750-1918). Barcelona: Edhasa. ISBN 978-84-350-4655-8.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
- ^ Professor J. C J. Metford: The Spanish Anarchist Movement, 1908-75, Mastermind Quiz Book, 1984
- 1833 births
- 1913 deaths
- People from Cádiz
- Prime Ministers of Spain
- Members of the Royal Spanish Academy
- Economy and finance ministers of Spain
- Foreign ministers of Spain
- Government ministers of Spain
- Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain)
- Liberal Party (Spain, 1880) politicians
- Leaders of political parties in Spain
- Spanish people of British descent
- Academics of the Complutense University of Madrid
- Complutense University of Madrid alumni
- Presidents of the Ateneo de Madrid
- Ambassadors of Spain to the United Kingdom
- Interior ministers of Spain
- Overseas ministers of Spain
- Spanish abolitionists
- Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order