José de Cuero y Caicedo was a bishop and politician who served as President of Ecuador, Vice President of Sovereign Board of Quito, Bishop of

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quito The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Quito is the Catholic archdiocese in the capital city of Ecuador, Quito. It was established as the Diocese of Quito on 8 January 1545, before being elevated to archdiocese level in 1849 by Pope Pius ...

, and

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuenca The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuenca ( la, Archidioecesis Conchensis in Aequatore) is an archdiocese located in the city of Cuenca in Ecuador. Erected as the Diocese of Cuenca from territory of the Diocese of Quito on 1 July 1786, it was ...

Personal life

He was born on 11 September 1735 in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

to Fernando Cuero y Pérez and Bernabela Caicedo y Jiménez. He received a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1762 and title of Lawyer on 20 June 1768.

Political activities

Already as a Bishop he belonged to the famous

Escuela de la Concordia The ( Spanish for the "School of Concord" or "Agreement"), also known as the Patriotic Society of the Friends of the Country of Quito ( es, Sociedad Patriótica de Amigos del País de Quito) was an influential society in Spanish South America dur ...

Society, formed with the secret purpose of propagating progressive political ideas. Despite not having participated in the Revolution of 10 August 1809, he was named Vice President of the First Sovereign Government Board (Junta). When the Revolution was crushed by the Spanish 2 months later, he escaped the imprisonment and execution of the other conspirators. When a new revolt under command of

Carlos de Montúfar Carlos de Montúfar y Larrea-Zurbano (Quito, November 2, 1780 - Buga, July 31, 1816) was a Creole nobleman and soldier considered one of the liberators of current Ecuador. He fought alongside Simón Bolívar and was nicknamed El Caudillo. Bio ...

led to a Second Junta and the independent

State of Quito State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

in 1812, the Bishop became its President. Again, the Spanish army defeated the Republicans and retook Quito on 1 December 1812. The Spanish authorities ordered his exile along with that of several Quito Patriots involved in the independence movement. He lived his last years in poverty in

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 , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, where he died on 10 December 1815.
On 12 September 2016, his remains were reburied in Quito with high military honors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuero y Caicedo, José de 1735 births 1815 deaths 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ecuador Roman Catholic bishops of Quito Roman Catholic bishops of Cuenca History of Quito