Francisco Ramón de Vicuña Larraín (; September 9, 1775 – January 13, 1849) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

political figure A politician is a person who participates in policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles or duties tha ...

. He served twice as acting President of Chile in 1829. Francisco Vicuña was of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent.

Early life

He was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

on 1775, the son of Francisco de Vicuña Hidalgo y Zavala and of María del Carmen Larraín Salas y Vicuña. He married Mariana de Aguirre, and had 11 children with her. In 1810, Vicuña participated in Chile's war for independence and organized the first

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s production in the country. In 1811, he represented Osorno in the congress, which was to give Chile a constitution, in 1814, he moved to the

Senate of Chile The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. Composition According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of forty ...

. Then, he was arrested for

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

against the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

crown and banished into exile. Only after Chile's victory at the

battle of Chacabuco The Battle of Chacabuco, fought during the Chilean War of Independence, took place on February 12, 1817. The Army of the Andes, from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and led by Captain (land), Captain–General José de San Martín, ...

in 1817, was he able to return to his home land.

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

appointed him as a government representative to the northern provinces.

Political life

In 1823 he became the head of the administration of

and then as a delegate to the constitutional convention that year. He was one of the main defenders of the Federalist position championed by

José Miguel Infante y Rojas José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

. In 1825 the

Supreme Director of Chile Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero created by Rob Liefeld * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * ...

Ramón Freire Ramón Saturnino Andrés Freire y Serrano (; November 29, 1787 – December 9, 1851) was a Chilean political figure. He was head of state on several occasions, and enjoyed a numerous following until the War of the Confederation. Ramón Fr ...

appointed him to be his deputy as well as foreign and interior minister and at times acting war, naval, and finance minister. In 1829, when

Francisco Antonio Pinto Francisco Antonio Pinto y Díaz de la Puente (; July 23, 1785 – July 18, 1858) was a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile between 1827 and 1829. Early life He was born in Santiago, the son of Joaquín Pinto and Mercedes D ...

was elected

President of Chile The president of Chile (), officially the president of the Republic of Chile (), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both Government of Chile, government administration and s ...

, the runners-up were Francisco Ruiz-Tagle Portales, a liberal federalist, and José Joaquín Prieto Vial, a conservative centralist, who both received the same number of votes. Nonetheless, congress, the majority of which was liberal, declared Joaquín Vicuña Larraín, a distant third and brother of Francisco Ramón (who was president of the senate)

Vice President of Chile The Vice President of Chile, officially known as the Vice President of the Republic (), is a temporary post provided by the Chilean Constitution of 1980, Constitution of Chile. The "vice president" is a person who fulfills the duties of the Pr ...

. The centralists outraged decided for armed resistance and the

Chilean Civil War of 1829 Chilean may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Chile, a country in South America * Chilean people * Chilean Spanish * Chilean culture * Chilean cuisine * Chilean Americans See also *List of Chileans This is a list of Chileans who ar ...

broke out. In the ensuing

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

between the conservative centralists and the liberal federalists, Pinto was forced twice to leave the post of president to Vicuña. First, from July 14 to October 19, when Vicuña assumed as President Delegate, and then finally when he resigned on November 2 and Vicuña assumed power. On December 7, 1829 the conservative troops under José Joaquín Prieto Vial approached Santiago from the South. The government under Vicuña fled northward to

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...

, where they were, however, imprisoned by the victorious conservative troops. Then, Chile was without a leader for a few weeks (from December 7 to 24, 1829) until a Government Junta was organized and took control under

José Tomás Ovalle José Tomás Ovalle y Bezanilla (; December 21, 1787 – March 21, 1831) was a Chilean political figure. He served twice as provisional president of Chile. Early life He was born in Santiago, the son of Vicente María Ovalle Guzmán and of Marí ...

. Under the centralist governments of José Joaquín Prieto Vial and

Manuel Bulnes Manuel Bulnes Prieto (; December 25, 1799 – October 18, 1866) was a Chilean military and political figure who was President of Chile from 1841 to 1851. Born in Concepción, he served as the president of Chile between 1841 and 1851. At the ...

, the liberal Vicuña could not hold any governmental positions. He died in

on January 13, 1849.

Cabinet

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vicuna Larraín, Francisco 1775 births 1849 deaths People from Santiago, Chile Presidents of Chile Ministers of the interior of Chile Foreign ministers of Chile Ministers of defense of Chile Chilean people of Basque descent People of the Chilean Civil War of 1829–30 Liberal Party (Chile, 1849) politicians Presidents of the Senate of Chile

Vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', Vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine tundra, alpine areas of the Andes; the other cameli ...

Francisco Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco (name), Paco". Francis of Assisi, San Francisco de A ...

Viceroyalty of Peru people