Wenceslao Ramírez de Villa-Urrutia, 1st Marquis of Villa-Urrutia (1850, in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

– 1933, 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 ...

) was a Spanish

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

, politician and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

who served as

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

between 27 January and 23 June 1905, in a cabinet headed by

Raimundo Fernández Villaverde The name Raimundo may refer to: * Raimundo, 2nd Duke of Castel Duino (1907–1986) * Raimundo Calcagno, Spanish screenwriter * Raimundo Rolón, brief President of Paraguay * Raimundo Orsi, Argentinian footballer * Raimundo Diosdado Caballero, Cat ...

during the reign of

Alfonso XIII of Spain 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 ...

. Ramírez was appointed a

Senator for life A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , six Italian senators out of 206, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...

in 1905. He served as the Spanish Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1906-1912), France (1912-1914) and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

(1916-1923). He also served as a

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...

minister to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

.
He was awarded the crosses of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

and the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...

for his service to Spain, and the

Cross of Naval Merit The Cross of Naval Merit ( es, Cruces del Mérito Naval) is a Spanish military award for gallantry or merit in war or peace. Awarded to members of the Spanish Naval Forces, Guardia Civil or civilians. History and Attribution Established on 3 ...

for his military service. Ramírez was a member of the

Royal Academy of History The Real Academia de la Historia (RAH, 'Royal Academy of History') is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the diff ...

and the

Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

. He authored multiple historical books, including *''La conferencia de AIgeciras'' ( The Conference of Algeciras) (1906), *''Relaciones de España e Inglaterra durante la Guerra de la Independencia'' (Spanish and English Relations during the War of Independence) (1911), *''Apuntes para la historia diplomática de España'' (Notes for the Diplomatic History of Spain) (1914), *''Las mujeres de Fernando VII'' (Women of

Fernando 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_pla ...

) (1916), *''La reina María Luisa, esposa de Carlos IV'' ( Queen Maria Luisa, wife of Carlos IV) (1927), *''Palique diplomático'' (1928), ''

Madame de Staël Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ...

'' (1930), *''Fernán-Núñez, el embajador'' (Fernán-Núñez, the ambassador) (1931); *''Fernando VII, rey constitucional, y Fernando VII, rey absoluto'' (Fernando VII, constitutional king, and Ferdinand VII, absolute king) (1931), *''Lucrecia Borja, Le Reina Gobernadora'' ( Lucrezia Borgia, the Ruling Queen). , -

References

Marquesses of Spain Foreign ministers of Spain 1850 births 1933 deaths People from Spanish Cuba Conservative Party (Spain) politicians Ambassadors of Spain to Belgium Ambassadors of Spain to Greece Ambassadors of Spain to Turkey Ambassadors of Spain to Austria Ambassadors of Spain to France Ambassadors of Spain to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Spain to the Holy See Spanish expatriates in Cuba Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order {{spain-diplomat-stub