Gonzalo O'Farrill y Herrera (1754 in
La Habana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...](_b ...<br></span></div>, <div class=)
– 1831 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) was a Spanish soldier and politician.
Biography
He was born in Cuba as the son of Ricardo José O'Farrill y Arriola of Irish descent. His great-grandfather was Richard O'Farrill who was born in Londonderry around 1640, but
emigrated to Montserrat around 1667.
Geni
/ref>
In Spain, Gonzalo became (at the time of King Carlos IV
Charles IV (; 11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808.
The Spain inherited by Charles IV gave few indications of instability, but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disa ...
of Spain), a lieutenant general of the Royal Spanish Army, Director of the Military College at Puerto de Santa María
Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to:
Places
*El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain
*Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
*Puerto Colombia, Colombia
*Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela
*Puerto Galera, Oriental Mi ...
, Cadiz, Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, and a Plenipotentiary Minister representing Spain in the Kingdom of Prussia under King Frederic. He was also a member and President of the Supreme Joint Council of Spain when King Carlos IV went to Bayonne
Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
, France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
to meet with Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
Bonaparte around March 1808.
Minister of War under King Carlos IV of Spain
Charles IV (; 11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808.
The Spain inherited by Charles IV gave few indications of instability, but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disa ...
, he was for a few days (3-19 March 1808), between two spells in power of Pedro Cevallos
Pedro Cevallos Guerra (1 August 1759 – 29 May 1838) was a Spanish statesman and diplomat who served as Chief Minister from 1799 to 1808 during the Napoleonic Wars, although Manuel Godoy, a personal favourite of the Spanish King, had a vast inf ...
, Prime Minister of Spain under King José I Bonaparte. He remained Minister of War under Bonaparte.
After the collapse of French power in Spain, he emigrated to France and had all his properties in Cuba confiscated.
He died in 1831 and is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world.
Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
.
He had married a widow, Ana Rodríguez de Carassa who already had a child, Pedro Miguel Saenz de Santamaría.
Don Gonzalo O'Farrill, the uncle of "la Bella Condesa Cubana" Maria Theresa
The daughter of his sister María-Josefa Josefa O'Farrill y Herrera was the sensual Cuban lady, Maria Teresa Montalvo y O'Farrill, (1771–1812), She became a widow in 1807, aged 36 with two very young daughters, described as the "Santa Cruz" girls, and moved to Madrid. Her Literary Salon
A salon is a gathering of people held by a host. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" (Latin: ''aut delectare aut prodesse''). Salons in the tradition of the Fren ...
at Madrid became very popular with visitors such as the poet Manuel José Quintana
Manuel José Quintana y Lorenzo (April 11, 1772 - March 11, 1857), was a Spanish poet and man of letters.
Life
He was born at Madrid. After completing his studies at Salamanca he was called to the bar. In 1801 Quintana produced a tragedy, ''El ...
and the famous painter Francisco de Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, a ...
.
It is said that at the time she was supposed to be the Spanish love of the new Bonaparte family King of Spain, José I Bonaparte, whose wife, Julie Clary
Marie Julie Clary (26 December 1771 – 7 April 1845), also known as Julie Bonaparte, was Queen of Naples, then of Spain and the Indies, as the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, who was King of Naples from January 1806 to June 1808, and later King ...
, apparently preferred a less risky position and stayed in France with their two daughters.
Maria Teresa Montalvo y O'Farrill died in 1812. The next year when Napoleonic troops suffered successive defeats, her two daughters together with their great uncle Gonzalo O´Farrill, left for Paris. Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo had married around October 1809, aged 20, with French invading General Antoine Christofe Merlin, a. k. a. Merlin de Thionville
Antoine Christophe Merlin (13 September 1762 in Thionville, Moselle – September 1833 in Paris) was a member of several legislative bodies during the era of the French Revolution. He is usually called Merlin de Thionville (Merlin of Thionvill ...
, then in his early forties, who was Captain General of the Spanish Royal Guards two months before their wedding. Her sister María Josefa de Santa Cruz y Montalvo was married to another "Afrancesado", Pedro Miguel Sáenz de Santa María y Carassa, the step son of General Gonzalo O'Farrill y Herrera, and a member of the State Council of the "new King" José I.
The Spanish-Cuban aristocrats exiled from Madrid to Paris
Maria Mercedes, left her husband French General Merlin de Thionville, and had an affair with Philarète Chasles
Philarète Euphemon Chasles (6 October 179818 July 1873) was a widely-known French critic and man of letters.
Life and work
He was born at Mainvilliers, Eure-et-Loir. His father, Pierre Jacques Michel Chasles (1754–1826), was a member of ...
. She also played hostess to French intellectuals.
Her translation into Spanish from the French of "''Viaje a La Habana''" had a prologue by the notorious Spanish-Cuban romantic school poet Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda Gertrudis is a feminine given name. People with that name include:
* Gertrudis Anglesola
Gertrudis Anglesola (June 19, 1641, in Valencia – March 3, 1727, in , Valencia), also known as ''Gertrudis de Anglesola'', was an abbess and Mysticism, myst ...
, then living in Spain. However her hopes of getting back land, money, houses and titles confiscated by the Spanish Bourbons while she lived in exile, in particular, her appeals around 1845 to Queen Isabella II of Spain
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 ...
for restoration of her titles and properties did not lead anywhere.
See also
* List of prime ministers of Spain
References
*http://wwwcirobianchi.blogia.com/2007/121601-dos-habaneras-de-ayer.php
*http://www.dtcuba.com/ShowReport.aspx?c=174
The dtcuba URL describes the former palace of the O´Farrill family in La Habana, Cuba, now a hotel. They were Irish Catholics settled in Cuba by the British Crown in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...
, as agents for the slave trade, importing Africans to work in Cuban sugar fields.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofarrill Y Herrera, Gonzalo
1754 births
1831 deaths
18th-century Cuban people
Politicians from Havana
Military personnel from Havana
Cuban people of Irish descent
Prime ministers of Spain
Economy and finance ministers of Spain
Spanish people of the Napoleonic Wars
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Afrancesados
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain