Pascual Madoz Ibáñez (17 May 1806 – 13 December 1870) was a Spanish politician and statistician.

Biography

In early life Madoz was settled in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, as a writer and journalist. He envisioned the construction of the

Vielha tunnel The Vielha tunnel (Aranese: , Catalan and ) is a road tunnel in Spain, connecting Vielha, the capital of the Aran valley, with the Alta Ribagorça comarca. It is part of the N-230 road and consists of two parallel tunnels. The older one, na ...

. He joined the Progresista party formed during the

First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish monarchy: the conservative a ...

, 1833–40. He saw some service against the Carlists; was elected deputy to the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

of 1836; took part for Baldomero Espartero, Count of Luchana, and then against him; was imprisoned in 1843; went into exile and returned. In 1854 after the Vicalvarada he was appointed governor of Barcelona. He then returned to his seat as a deputy, presided over the Cortes, and on 21 January 1855 was appointed Minister of Finance. In that role, he proposed and had passed the civil confiscation law of 1855 which sold off communal lands, Church lands, and those of various

confraternities A confraternity (; ) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most common among Catholics, L ...

, although he left office shortly after its passage. Beginning in 1859 he was a member of the governing board over the military retention and enlistment funds. In 1860, he founded and directed the real estate and insurance company "La Peninsular". Unfortunately after initial success, the company floundered leaving Madoz in financial distress. After the

revolution of 1868 The Glorious Revolution ( or ) took place in Spain in 1868, resulting in the deposition of Queen Isabella II. The success of the revolution marked the beginning of the with the installation of a provisional government. Background Leading up ...

he was appointed governor of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, but soon resigned over disagreements with the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

under Francisco Serrano. Nonetheless after Amadeo of Savoy was to be offered the Spanish throne, Madoz went as a commissioner to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in 1870 to offer Amadeo the crown. Unfortunately he became ill and died there in Genoa. He was later interred in the

Montjuïc Cemetery Montjuïc Cemetery, known in Catalan as Cementiri del Sud-oest or Cementiri de Montjuïc, is located on one of the rocky slopes of Montjuïc hill in Barcelona. History It was opened on 17 March 1883 by the city of Barcelona as its main cemeter ...

in Barcelona.

Works

Madoz was distinguished from most of the politicians of his generation by the fact that in mid-life he compiled what is still a book of value: a geographical, statistical and historical

gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or wikt:directory, directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a co ...

or dictionary of localities in Spain and its overseas possessions, ''Diccionario geográfico, estadístico y histórico de España, y sus posesiones de Ultramar'' (Madrid, 1848–1850). It, along with his ''Atlas de España y sus posesiones de Ultramar'', are considered milestones in Spanish geography.

Public recognition

In Pamplona there is a street, ''Calle de Pascual Madoz'', named in his honor.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Madoz, Pascual 1806 births 1870 deaths People from Pamplona Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Economy and finance ministers of Spain Prime ministers of Spain Government ministers of Spain Spanish statisticians Civil governors of Madrid

Biography

Works

Public recognition

Further reading

Notes

References