José Figueroa y Torres (8 March 1857 - 11 June 1901), also known by his noble title of Viscount of Irueste, was a Spanish politician of the Restoration. He was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

pioneer in

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 ...

, being the fundamental head behind the foundations of the very first legalized

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

s club in the country,

Cricket and Football Club of Madrid The Cricket and Foot-Ball Club of Madrid was a Spanish society founded in Madrid at the end of 1879, which was registered at the time of its creation, thus becoming the first legalized sports club in the country. It was founded in the capital in ...

in 1879, serving the entity as its first-ever president.

Biography

Born in Marseille on 8 March 1857, he was the son of Ignacio Figueroa y Mendieta, and the brother of Álvaro (the Count of Romanones),

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and . He was part of one of the most influential families in Spain during the Restoration period. He was the first president of the Cricket and Football Club of Madrid, founded in 1879, the first legally registered sports society in Spain. Recent studies place it as one of the proto-clubs that pioneered and expanded

football in Spain Football is the most popular sport in Spain. Spain has some of the most important teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Seville, Valencia, and others). It also has a high number of players (most of them being unprofessio ...

, together with Exiles Football Club (1876) and the Rio Tinto English Club (1878). It is not known with certainty what the fate of this team was, although it seems that it disappeared a few years later. He premiered as a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

in the in 1884, after being elected by the electoral district of

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. He married María Rosario Loring y Heredia on 3 April 1883, the third daughter of the Marquises of Casa Loring, Jorge Loring y Oyarzábal and Amalia Heredia Livermore. Between 1891 and 1892 he was a deputy for the Ourense district of Valdeorras. In 1896, he obtained a deputy act in the successive elections of 1896, 1898, 1899, and 1901 for the Jaén district of Baeza. He held the position of Director General of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce between September and December 1892. He was among the few people attending the execution of

Michele Angiolillo Michele Angiolillo Lombardi (; 5 June 1871 – 20 August 1897) was an Italian anarchist, born in Foggia, Italy. He assassinated Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo in 1897 and was captured and executed by Spanish authorities in t ...

on 20 August 1897, the murderer of

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (8 February 18288 August 1897) was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Prime Minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the regime that ensued with the 1874 restor ...

. Shortly after, he took office on 12 September of that same year as of the province of Madrid, holding the position until October. During his tenure, he imposed fines on theater companies that finished their performances after one in the morning. Member of the Order of Santiago, he held the noble title of 3rd Viscount of Irueste. He died in the tower of Justice of the

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

on the night of 11 to 12 June 1901. Suffering from an illness, he vomited blood and at midnight he lost his life on the spot.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa y Torres, José 1857 births 1901 deaths Politicians from Madrid Spanish footballers Counts of Spain Spanish monarchists Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish Restoration Members of the Senate of Spain Mayors of Madrid Madrid city councillors