Antonio Alcalá Galiano y Fernández de Villavicencio, (22 July 1789,

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

– 11 April 1865,

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 ...

) was a Spanish politician and writer who served as Minister of the Navy (1836) and

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

(1865). He was elected a Deputy for Cádiz in 1822 and served sporadically through ten successive legislatures, until his death.

Biography

He was born to an influential military family. His father, the explorer

Dionisio Alcalá Galiano Dionisio Alcalá Galiano (8 October 1760 – 21 October 1805) was a Spanish Navy officer, cartographer, and explorer. He mapped various coastlines in Europe and the Americas with unprecedented accuracy using new technology such as chronomete ...

, was killed at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

and his uncle, Don , was Captain general of the Armada and a

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of the Kingdom during the interregnum in the reign of

Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

. After his secondary studies at the "" (now known as "IES Aguilar y Eslava"), he travelled through the Mediterranean with his father and spent some time in Naples. In 1806, he enrolled as a cadet in the "Guardias Marinas Españolas" and the following year was named

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

at the port of Seville. He was married in 1808, but separated from his wife seven years later; because, it is believed, of her infidelity due to his ugliness. After that, he briefly gained a reputation as a

libertine A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or Human sexual activity, sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially som ...

and drunkard. He abandoned his military career in 1812 and became a "Doceañista" (a supporter of 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 ...

). Two years later, together with , he came out against the German reactionary

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

advocated by

Juan Nicolás Böhl de Faber Juan Nicolás Böhl de Faber (in German sources also: ''Johann Nikolaus Böhl von Faber, né Böhl und Lütkens''; Hamburg, 1770 - Cádiz, 1836) was a German bibliophile and lover of Spanish literature and culture. He was the father of Spanish/ ...

but, after his stay in London, came to support the new aesthetic and wrote a prologue to ''El moro expósito'' (The Moor Exposed), by his friend Ángel de Saavedra; the manifesto of Spanish Romanticism. He participated in the conspiracy that ended with the triumph of

Rafael del Riego Rafael del Riego y Flórez (7 April 1784 – 7 November 1823) was a Spanish general and liberal politician who played a key role in the establishment of the Liberal Triennium (''Trienio liberal'' in Spanish). The failure of the Cádiz army to se ...

in 1820 and was considered to be a great orator; defending Liberalism during the

Trienio Liberal The , () or Three Liberal Years, was a period of three years in Spain between 1820 and 1823 when a liberal government ruled Spain after a military uprising in January 1820 by the lieutenant-colonel Rafael del Riego against the absolutist rule ...

. When Ferdinand VII was restored to power after the French invasion, he was forced into self-exile in London. While there, he survived by teaching Spanish language and literature classes then, from 1828 to 1830, held the Chair of Spanish at the newly created

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

. Until then, he had been a great admirer of

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...

, but soon absorbed English ways of thinking, befriended

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. 5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S.– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

, became attracted to the moderate liberalism of

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...

and rejected abstract principles in favor of

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

, then adopted the doctrinaire liberalism of

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...

and

Benjamin Constant Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss and French political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion. A committed republican from 1795, Constant ...

. He returned to Spain in 1833, after

Isabella II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

became Queen, and joined the Liberal cabinet of Juan Álvarez Mendizábal. From that time, he held several ministerial positions and ambassadorships. In 1835, he was one of the co-founders of the

Ateneo de Madrid The Ateneo de Madrid ("Athenæum of Madrid") is a private cultural institution located in the capital of Spain that was founded in 1835. Its full name is ''Ateneo Científico, Literario y Artístico de Madrid'' ("Scientific, Literary and Artistic ...

. In 1863, he became a member of the

Real Academia de la Historia The Royal Academy of History (, RAH) 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 different branches of life, of c ...

, followed by a membership at the Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas. He wrote a detailed autobiography, published posthumously in two versions: ''Recuerdos de un anciano'' (1878) and ''Memorias'' (1886). He was also a literary critic. His most notable work in that genre being ''Lecciones de literatura española, francesa, inglesa e italiana del siglo XVIII''. He also composed some ''Lecciones de derecho político y constitucional'' (1843). The author, Juan Valera, was his nephew.

Selected writings

* ''Recuerdos de un anciano'', 1878, reprinted by Grupo Planeta, 2009

References

External links

Works by Alcalá Galiano
@ Cervantes Virtual
Digitalized works by Antonio Alcalá Galiano
in the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica of the

Biblioteca Nacional de España The (National Library of Spain) is the national library of Spain. It is the largest public library in the country, and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1711, it is an autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Culture since 1 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcala Galiano, Antonio 1789 births 1865 deaths 19th-century Spanish politicians Spanish autobiographers Spanish expatriates in England Members of the Real Academia de la Historia Spanish political writers Spanish political philosophers Politicians from Cádiz 19th-century Spanish writers 19th-century Spanish male writers Comparative literature academics Members of the Royal Spanish Academy

Biography

Selected writings

References

Further reading

External links