Juan de la Cierva y Peñafiel ( - ) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

politician and lawyer, who served during the reign of

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

as Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, of the Interior, of War, and of Finance and Development, and in the last government of the monarchy as Minister of Development. Cierva was born Mula,

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, the son of lawyer and notary public Juan de la Cierva y Soto. He married a daughter of the banker Eleuterio Peñafiel, who was active between 1860 and 1896. He graduated in law from the University of Madrid, beginning his political career with the Spanish Partido Liberal-Conservador ( en, "Liberal-Conservative Party") as a councillor in 1895, and became the Mayor of Murcia and provincial leader of the Conservatives. In 1896, he was given writ to stand as a deputy congressman for the region of his birth, but failed to be elected. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

he took refuge in the embassy of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Because there was no medicine there, and such a deprivation of provisions, he contracted tuberculosis and suffered severe conditions, dying on the 11th of January, 1938.

Politician

From 1902, Cierva built a network of political secret contacts, who maintained absolute power of the people, in exchange for political loyalty to the royal family. This time is known in Murcia as . Cierva's political

hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over oth ...

was strained by the class struggle and the establishment of the

Spanish Second Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

. He was the Minister for Education and the Minister for Arts December 16, 1904 and April 8, 1905, respectively, in separate governments presided by

Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...

and Raimundo Fernández Villaverde. Between January 25, 1907, and October 21, 1909, he was the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. He was also Minister of War twice: from 3 November 1917 to March 22, 1918, where he was in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Manuel García Prieto Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * M ...

, and from 14 August 1921 to March 8, 1922 in

Antonio Maura Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions. Early life Maura was born in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, and studied law in Madrid. In 1878, Maura married Constanc ...

's government. Under this government, he was also the

Finance Minister 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 April 15 to 20 July 1919.

References

External links

*
Online biographical dictionary of the Region of Murcia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cierva, Juan 1864 births 1938 deaths Economy and finance ministers of Spain 19th-century Spanish lawyers Politicians from the Region of Murcia Interior ministers of Spain Civil governors of Madrid