Leopoldo O'Donnell y Jorris, 1st Duke of Tetuán, GE (12 January 1809 – 5 November 1867), was a Spanish general and

Grandee Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

who was

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the Spanish government departments, ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers (Spain), Council of Mini ...

on several occasions.

Early life

He was born at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, a son of Carlos O'Donnell (born 1768) and Josefa Jorris y Casaviella. He was a paternal grandson of José O'Donnell and Marie Anne d'Anethan. He was of distant Irish paternal ancestry, the 11th generation descendant of Calvagh O'Donnell, '' Rí'' of Tír Chonaill, a Gaelic territory in the west of

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

in the north of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He had an uncle, Francisco, and an aunt, Beatriz, who married Manuel Pombo y Ante (1769–1829), and had issue. cites:

Career

O'Donnell was a strong supporter of the liberal Cristinos and the regency of Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies during the 1830s. When General Baldomero Espartero seized power in 1840, O'Donnell went into exile with Maria Christina and was involved in an attempted coup against Espartero in 1841. O'Donnell was soon back in power and was sent to Cuba as Captain General in October 1843. O'Donnell was responsible for the 1844 massacre known as the repression of "La Escalera". Thousands of slaves and free-coloured people in Cuba were confined in dungeons, tortured and executed in what became known as the Year of the Lash. In 1854, he made a '' pronunciamiento'' against the government and was named

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

for a time. He served as War Minister of the Espartero government. The

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

caused an increase in grain prices due to the blockade of Russia, causing a famine in Galicia during 1854. Riots against power looms spread through Spain, and General O'Donnell intervened, marching on

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 ...

. Espartero relinquished power in O'Donnell's favour on 14–15 July 1856, and Queen Isabella II asked him to form a government as the 44th

. For his new administration, O'Donnell formed the Unión Liberal Party, which was designed to combine Progressive, Moderate, and

Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...

factions. O'Donnell attempted to define moderate policies for Spain with this new party, advocating a ''

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...

'' approach and confiscating church land. He was dismissed after only a few months in power on 12 October, and two years of reaction followed. In later governments, O'Donnell was more careful. His two later administrations worked laboriously to attract foreign investment to improve Spain's railroad infrastructure. He failed to achieve much economic growth, however, and increased industry only in Basque country and

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, both of which already had substantial industrial centres. He was a proponent of a new and aggressive imperial policy, intended principally to expand Spanish territory in Africa, particularly after French successes in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. In the first administration, he served twice simultaneously as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and Prime Minister. He was the 136th Minister of Foreign Affairs and the 48th Prime Minister of Spain between 30 June 1858 and 2 July 1858, and the 138th Minister of Foreign Affairs between 21 October 1860 and 18 January 1863, remaining again solely as Prime Minister until 26 February 1863. His second term as the 53rd Prime Minister started on 21 October 1860. He took a brief respite from his government in 1860 to command the Spanish army at the

Battle of Tétouan A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

and the Battle of Wad Ras during the Spanish-Moroccan War, overseeing the capture of

Tétouan Tétouan (, or ) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about E.S.E. of Tangier. In the 2014 Morocc ...

. He was rewarded for his abilities in the campaign with the title Duke of Tetuán. In 1866, he repressed a revolt commanded by General Juan Prim, and was subsequently dismissed by the queen for the brutality of his regime on 11 July 1866. He was the 103rd

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Gran ...

of the Order of the Tower and Sword.

Family

The Duke of Tetuán was succeeded in his titles by his nephew, Carlos O'Donnell y Álvarez de Abreu (1834 – 1903), 2nd Duke of Tetuán, 2nd Count of Lucena and 9th Marquess of Altamira, who was the son of his brother Carlos O'Donnell y Jorris and wife María del Mar Álvarez de Abreu y Rodríguez de Albuerne. The 2nd Duke of Tetuán married in Madrid on 1 June 1861 to María Josefa de Vargas y Díez de Bulnes (

, 25 July 1838 – 5 November 1905).

References

Sources

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External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Leopoldo 1809 births 1867 deaths Counts of Lucena Dukes of Tetuan Governors of Cuba Grandees of Spain Leaders of political parties in Spain Liberal Union (Spain) politicians Military personnel of the First Carlist War Leopoldo People from Santa Cruz de Tenerife People of the Chincha Islands War People of the Dominican Restoration War Prime ministers of Spain Spanish captain generals Spanish people of Irish descent Viscounts of Spain Spanish military personnel of the Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–60)