José Joaquín Vicuña Larraín (; 1786–1857) 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 ...

an politician whose selection as

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 ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

precipitated 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 ...

. He 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. Vicuña was from a powerful family; of his brothers, Francisco Ramón Vicuña was an influential politician, and Manuel Vicuña was Archbishop of Santiago. He is primarily known for his role in the presidential election of 1829. He ran for president, finishing fourth; but rather than appointing the runner-up (or even second runner-up) as

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

, the Congress controlled by his brother's party appointed Joaquín, precipitating a civil war. He founded the town of

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 ...

in 1821.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vicuna, Joaquin 1786 births 1857 deaths Viceroyalty of Peru people People of the Chilean Civil War of 1829–30 Vice presidents of Chile Candidates for President of Chile Intendants of Coquimbo Province