Domingo Elías Carbajo (July 19, 1805, Ica, Peru – July 3, 1867,

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Peru) served as Interim President of Peru (Self-proclaimed President) for a brief period between June and August 1844.

Biography

He assumed the Presidency of Peru during an epoch of civil war, which divided Peru between the followers of

Ramón Castilla Ramón Castilla y Marquesado (; 31 August 1797 – 30 May 1867) was a Peruvian ''caudillo'' who served as President of Peru three times as well as the Interim President of Peru (Revolution Self-proclaimed President) in 1863. His earliest pr ...

's government and those of Domingo Elías Carbajo. After completing his elementary studies, he travelled to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and Paris to continue his education. He returned in 1825 and made a living from agriculture in the

Ica Region Ica (; qu, Ika) is a department and region of Peru. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Lima Region on the north; the Huancavelica and Ayacucho regions on the east; and the Arequipa Region on the south. Its capital is the city of Ic ...

, where he started a large cultivation of cotton and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

. This epoch coincided with the arrival of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

coolies A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

to replace the declining work of African slaves in 1849. After the defeat of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation during the decade of the 1840s, anarchy in Peru became rampant. In 1843, during the government of

Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco Iturralde (15 June 1806 – 16 September 1873) was a Peruvian politician and military leader who served as the President of Peru from 1843 to 1844. He was born in Lima, Peru. He led part of the Peruvian forces in the ...

, Elías was named prefect of Lima. When Vivanco headed to southern Peru to confront the constitutionalist movement of Ramon Castilla, Elías was assigned the governorship of the northern Peruvian provinces. The internal Peruvian conflict was still undecided between the military factions of the country: Vivanco's and

Echenique Echenique is a surname of Basque origin. Echenique, (spelled ''Etxenike'' in standard Basque means "close to the house". Other spelling variants are ''Echeñique'' and ''Etchenique''. Notable people with the surname include: Sport *Karla Echenique ...

's against Castilla's and San Román's. During this traumatic and polarizing period of Peruvian history, writes the Peruvian historian

Jorge Basadre Grohmann Jorge Alfredo Basadre Grohmann (February 12, 1903 – June 29, 1980) was a Peruvian historian known for his extensive publications about the independent history of his country. He served during two different administrations as Minister of Educa ...

, the "civil Elías" decided to convert himself into the leader of the tiredness of the country upon the "ever-lasting internal war". Elías declared himself the "Political and Military chief" of Peru on July 17, 1844. When Echenique's forces threatened to return to the capital, Elías declared the

Lima Province Lima Province is located in the central coast of Peru and is the only province in the country not belonging to any of the twenty-five regions. Its capital is Lima, which is also the nation's capital. Despite its small area, this province is the ...

in state of assembly, which meant the total suspension of labor and readiness of his able followers to take arms. The public employees, schools, and businesses formed regiments. All of Lima and even guarding members of the provinces of

Pisco Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative t ...

, Ica, and

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...

prepared to confront Echenique who, in the end and to everyone's astonishment, never arrived. This history week became known in Peru as the "Magna Week." Soon after, Elías ended his government upon the triumph of Castilla over Vivanco. Elías occupied various public posts such as minister and deputy of Ica (1845). He was

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from August 1844 to April 1846. He was also Peruvian minister in Bolivia (1847). He was a candidate for the Presidency of Peru in the controversial elections of 1851, when he was defeated by Echenique. During the latter's government, he fought rampant corruption and above all an

internal debt In public finance, internal debt or domestic debt is the component of the total government debt in a country that is owed to lenders within the country. Internal government debt is complement is external government debt. The main sources of fun ...

through his famous letters against the government. For these actions Elías was exiled to

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

, Ecuador. Elías did not cease in his actions to reach the government and returned to Peru through Tumbes to launch an unsuccessful coup d'état. He tried again from his native Ica but was again defeated in Soraja (1854). Finally, with the success of Castilla, he was named

in 1855, and later ambassador to France. He returned to Peru in 1858 to launch an unsuccessful presidential campaign. Thereafter Elías retired from politics and made a living from commercial and agricultural activities. Elías was involved in guano mining on Chincha Islands and importing of Chinese workers from Fujian.Charles C. Mann: 1493 - How Europe's Discovery of Americas Revolutionized Trade, ecology and Life on Earth, Granta Books, London, 2011, p. 215-2017 He died in Lima in 1867.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elias, Domingo 1805 births 1867 deaths Presidents of Peru Ambassadors of Peru to France Peruvian Ministers of Economy and Finance

Biography

See also

References