Ramón Posada y Soto (January 3, 1746 – January 1815) was a Spanish jurist, writer and academic who served as the first president of the Supreme Court from 1812 to 1814.

Biography

Posada y Soto was son of Joaquín de Posada y Rivero and Josefa de Soto y Posada, both members of important Asturian noble families. After graduating in the three-years preparatory grade on Philosophy in the Benedictine Convent of San Salvador in

Celorio Celoriu is one of 28 parishes (administrative divisions) in Llanes, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Esc ...

he started his studies on Canons and Laws in the University of Valladolid in 1762. He also graduated in Civil Law by the

University of Santa Catalina The Pontifical and Royal University of St. Catherine or University of Osma (Spanish ''Pontificia y Real Universidad de Santa Catalina'' or ''Universidad de Osma'') was founded in 1550 by the Portuguese bishop Pedro Alvarez de Acosta in El Burgo d ...

and in Civil and Canon Law by the

University of Ávila A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

(1766). In 1767 he graduated in Civil Law by the University of Valladolid. After failing the public contest to become a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

, he completed its legal education by practising in the ''Gimnasio Carolino de Leyes y Cánones'' of Valladolid as well as in different law firms of important lawyers of the time. He also served as secretary of the University of Valladolid He moved 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 was appointed lawyer of the Royal Councils of the Council of Castile on February 16, 1773. Still in his youth, he managed to become a member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1774. The professional course towards the legal profession was abandoned in 1774 after being appointed by King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

judge (

oidor An ''oidor'' () was a judge of the Royal ''Audiencias'' and ''Chancillerías'', originally courts of Kingdom of Castile, which became the highest organs of justice within the Spanish Empire. The term comes from the verb ''oír'', "to hear," referr ...

) of the

Real Audiencia of Guatemala The Real Audiencia of Santiago de Guatemala ( es, Audiencia y Cancillería Real de Santiago de Guatemala), simply known as the Audiencia of Guatemala or the Audiencia of Los Confines, was a ''Real Audiencia'' (appellate court) in the Imperial Spa ...

. In Guatemala, he also participated in governing functions as member of some courts and boards specialized in good of deads, police, tobacco, Jesuits, among others. On June 6, 1779 he was appointed ''Alcalde del Crimen'' ("Crime Mayor", a specialized judge in criminal law) in the

Real Audiencia of Lima The Real Audiencia and Chancery of Lima ( es, Audiencia y Cancillería Real de Lima, links=no) was a superior court in the New World empire of Spain, located in the city of Lima, capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru. It was created on November 20, 154 ...

, although he could not assume the office because he was appointed prosecutor of the Real Audiencia of Mexico. At the same time, he served as Protector-General of the Native People (''Protector General de los Indios''). In 1785 he was ordered knight of the Order of Charles III, Posada married in Guatemala with Ana Fernández de Córdoba in 1778. Ana was the niece of Ana de Zayas, wife of

Matías de Gálvez Matías is the Spanish version of Matthias. In Scandinavian languages (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish) and in Portuguese it is unaccented as Matias. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Matías Alemanno, Argentine rugby pl ...

, Viceroy of Mexico. They had five six children. His wife died in 1799 and he married again with María Magdalena López de Cabrejas y Gómez, with whom he had two daughters. After requesting it several times, he was appointed prosecutor in the Council of the Indies in 1793 and it was during this time when Francisco de Goya made a portrait of him. In 1796 he was part of the committee that studied a project of direct trade between

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

of the Royal Company of the Philippines (a state-protected enterprise) and because of this he established a close relationship with the company, being appointed Vice President of it. He left the office of prosecutor in the Council of the Indies in 1803. During the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, King Joseph I appointed him member of the Council of State in 1808, although he resigned and sided with the national side (supporters of King

Ferdinand VII , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_plac ...

). That year, in

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, the Supreme Junta of the Kingdom appointed him as member of the new Extraordinary and Temporary Surveillance and Protection Court to investigate and prosecute the actions of the French side. In 1810 the Council of the Indies was reestablished and he was appointed member of it. With the approval of the Constitution of 1812, in the top of judiciary was established the Supreme Court and he was one of the twenty members appointed as judges. He was elected President of the Supreme Court and on June 20, 1812, he made the inaugural speech of the court. After the revocation of the Constitution by the king in 1814, he rejected to return to its position in the Council of the Indies and he died a year later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soto, Ramón Posada 1746 births 1815 deaths 19th-century Spanish judges Presidents of the Supreme Court of Spain 18th-century Spanish judges