Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo (1719–1799) was a Spanish colonial

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, 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 ...

born in

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

(now

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

), and Viceroy of the Río de la Plata.

Biography

He was born in 1719 in

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida (, ) is the capital of the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the Mérida Municipality, eponymous municipality. It is located slightly inland fro ...

(now

). Son of a prominent peninsular politician, he studied in Spain and had a military education, serving in several Spanish campaigns, such as in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

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 ...

. He held the post of Governor of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, under the administration of the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

and Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, having as his main priority to expel the Portuguese from the ''Banda Oriental'', present-day

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, without success. Nevertheless, his government was highly praised. He assumed the post of Viceroy in 1778, having had a wide set of accomplishments, developing a local economy, colonizing uninhabited lands (or inhabited by local natives), establishing local government (''

Intendencias An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

'') all over the viceroyalty and prepared the way to the foundation of the Real Audiencia de Buenos Aires. He enacted the royal rulings that helped to boost commerce, and open the customs. As an economic policy, he encouraged

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

s to form

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

s, following

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an models. During his administration, he established the first city

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, which at the time showed about 37,000 inhabitants. He also created the first

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

in the city: ''La Ranchería''. He open the "Casa Cuna" or "Hospital de expósitos", with the purpose of giving shelter to homeless children. This institution was founded by the Jesuits. He also created the "Protomedicato" to watch the practice of

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and prevent the practise of curanderism. This institution was ruled by Miguel Gorman, and started the teaching of medicine in Buenos Aires.Abad de Santillán, p. 204 He played an important role in the repression of the uprising of

Túpac Amaru II Tupac Amaru II (born José Gabriel Condorcanqui Noguera, – 18 May 1781) was an Indigenous ''cacique'' who led a Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II, large Andean rebellion against the Viceroyalty of Peru, Spanish in Peru as Self-proclaimed monarc ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. In 1784 he asked to return to Spain, leaving the viceroyalty and giving it to his successor Nicolás del Campo. He died in Spain in 1799.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vertiz, Juan Jose 1719 births 1799 deaths Politicians from Mérida, Yucatán Viceroys of the Río de la Plata