José Manuel de Ezpeleta y Galdeano, 1st Count of Ezpeleta de Beire (in full, ''José Manuel Ignacio Timoteo de Ezpeleta Galdeano Dicastillo y del Prado, conde de Ezpeleta de Beire'') (1739–1823) was a Spanish military officer and politician, governor of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

from 1785 to 1789, and viceroy of New Granada from 1789 to 1797. A knight of 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 ...

and of the

Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegildo The Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild ( es, Real y Militar Orden de San Hermenegildo) is both a general military honor and a legion created by Ferdinand VII of Spain on 28 November 1814. The Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermeneg ...

, he was also a judge of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

. He was a governor of the Supreme Royal Council to His Majesty and a councilor of state, as well as field marshal in the royal army. On December 1, 1785, he became Spanish governor of Cuba. He held this position until 1789 when he was promoted to viceroy of New Granada.

As viceroy of New Granada

His term of office saw the birth of journalism in New Granada, under the direction of

Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez ( Bayamo, Captaincy General of Cuba, April 3, 1758 - Bogotá, Viceroyalty of New Granada, June 2, 1819) was a Cuban journalist. He is considered to be the founder of journalism in Colombia. Five years before his arr ...

, the first director of ''Papel Periódico'' in Bogotá. Two hundred sixty-five issues of this periodical appeared. Ezpeleta founded the first theater in Bogotá. He supported literary circles, in which some of the future heroes of the independence movement participated. In 1794,

Antonio Nariño Antonio Amador José de Nariño y Álvarez del Casal (Santa Fé de Bogotá, Colombia 1765 – 1824 Villa de Leyva, Colombia)Hector, M., and A. Ardila. Hombres y mujeres en las letras de Colombia. 2. Bogota: Magisterio, 2008. 25. Print. was a C ...

published a translation of the ''

Rights of Man ''Rights of Man'' (1791), a book by Thomas Paine, including 31 articles, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard the natural rights of its people. Using these points as a base it defends the ...

'', for which he was tried and convicted. Like his predecessors, Ezpeleta tried to spur the mining industry in Mariquita, but he came to the conclusion that the operating expenses were greater than the output. He promoted Catholic missions as a means of pacifying the Indigenous who had not accepted Spanish rule, especially the

Andaqui people Andaqui, Andaquí, or Andaki may refer to: * Andaquí people, an ethnic group of Colombia * Andaqui language, a language of Colombia See also * Andaqui Terrane, a subdivision of the Chibcha Terrane The Chibcha Terrane ( es, Terreno Chibcha, ' ...

Back in Spain

In 1807 he was named

Captain General of Catalonia The office of Captain General of Catalonia ( es, Capitán general de Cataluña; ca, Capitá general de Catalunya) was created in 1713 by the Nueva Planta decrees of King Philip V of Spain to replace that of Viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of ...

, but by the time he reached Barcelona, the French troops under

Guillaume Philibert Duhesme Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme (7 July 1766 in Mercurey (formerly ''Bourgneuf''), Burgundy – 20 June 1815 near Waterloo) was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars. Revolution Duhesme studied law and in 1792 was made colonel o ...

were already closing in on the city. Once the city taken, Ezpeleta refused to swear an oath of loyalty to José Bonaparte and was arrested and exiled to Montpellier where he remained until 1814. After his return in Spain, he was made Viceroy of Navarre, where he had great difficulties in restoring the old institutions. He was faced by an unsuccessful revolt led by

Francisco Espoz y Mina Francisco Espoz Ilundáin (17 June 1781 – 24 December 1836), being better known as Francisco Espoz y Mina, was a Spanish guerrilla leader and general. Biography He was born in Idocin in Navarre. His father, Juan Esteban Espoz y Mina, and hi ...

and another one in 1816 known as the ''Conspiración del Triángulo''. But in 1820 the Spanish liberal revolution forced him to step down and he was replaced by Espoz y Mina. He went to live in Valladolid until 1823, when he was asked after the Absolutist Restoration to return to his function of Viceroy of Navarre. Ezpeleta returned to Pamplona in July, but aged 83, died a few months later.

External links

Brief biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ezpeleta, Jose Manuel de Governors of Cuba Viceroys of New Granada 1739 births 1823 deaths Viceroys of Navarre

Ezpeleta Espelette (; ; oc, Espeleta) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It lies in the traditional Basque province of Labourd. Sights The town is attractive, with traditional Labourd houses and a castle. T ...

Captains General of Catalonia 1780s in Cuba 1780s in the Viceroyalty of New Granada 1790s in the Viceroyalty of New Granada 18th-century Spanish nobility 17th-century Colombian people 18th-century Cuban people