Salustiano de Olózaga y Almandoz (8 June 1805, in Oyón-Oion,

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

– 26 September 1873, in Enghien-les-Bains, France) was a Spanish politician, diplomat, lawyer and writer who served as

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the Spanish government departments, ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers (Spain), Council of Mini ...

and was appointed three times ambassador to France. __TOC__

Family and Surroundings

Olózaga was born into a comfortable liberal family who lived in the Rioja Alavesa part of Northern Spain. His grandfather, Ramón Antonio obtained in 1791 the recognition of his

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

thanks to the rule of universal hidalgocy. His grandfather would go on to serve as

regidor A regidor (plural: ''regidores'') is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of ''regedor''. Mexico In Mexico, an ayuntamiento (municipal council) is composed of a municipa ...

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

. Olózaga's father was a

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

who worked for the city of Arnedo earning a comfortable wage. Soon after being born, he moved to the family house in Arnedo where he would learn his first letters and words. Years later Olózaga would go on to say that he learned these reading from the

Spanish Constitution of 1812 The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy (), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz () and nicknamed ''La Pepa'', was the first Constitution of Spain and one of the earliest codified constitutions in world history. The Constitution ...

, updating it as more articles where passed in parliamentary sessions. His Latin teacher was Marcelino Magro, a liberal cathedraticum who was originally from

Cuenca, Spain Cuenca () is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. It is the capital of the Province of Cuenca. Etymology Its name may derive fro ...

but had taken refuge in Arnedo. Marcelino Magro would use texts from Latin authors as his learning materials, instead of the

catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...

as was normal at that time. At this time he would be successful in the Latin tournament held by the

franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

in the Convento de Vico. The winner obtained the right for the rest of the students to chant their town. That chant of ''"Viva Arnedo!"'' would stay with him for his entire life, such that in his death bed he still wrote a letter to his son remembering that moment.

Notes

References

Prime ministers of Spain 1805 births 1873 deaths Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Progressive Party (Spain) politicians Ambassadors of Spain to France Civil governors of Madrid {{spain-diplomat-stub