Lucas Ygnacio José Joaquín Pedro de Alcántar Juan Bautista Francisco de Paula de Alamán y Escalada (

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

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 ...

, 18 October 1792 –

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico, 2 June 1853) was a Mexican scientist, conservative statesman, historian, and writer. He came from an elite

family and was well-traveled and highly educated. He was an eyewitness to the early fighting in the

Mexican War of Independence The Mexican War of Independence (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...

when he witnessed the troops of insurgent leader

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mandarte y Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican War ...

sack

Guanajuato City Guanajuato (, Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a municipalities of Mexico, municipality in central Mexico and the capital of the Guanajuato, State of Guanajuato. It is part of the macroregion of the Bajío. It is located in a narrow valley, which makes i ...

, an incident that informed his already conservative and antidemocratic thought. He has been called the "arch-reactionary of the epoch...who sought to create a strong central government based on a close alliance of the army, the Catholic Church and the landed classes." He has been considered the founder of the Conservative Party. He has been compared to

Klemens von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ( ; 15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich () or Prince Metternich, was a German statesman and diplomat in the service of the Austrian Empire. ...

, and was one of the prime voices advocating for the establishment of a monarchy in Mexico. According to historian Charles A. Hale, Alamán was "undoubtedly the major political and intellectual figure of independent Mexico until his death in 1853 ... the guiding force of several administrations and an active promoter of economic development."

Early life

Lucas Alamán was born to a wealthy family of

on October 18, 1792. His father was Juan Vicente Alamán and his mother was Maria Ignacia Escalada. His father had immigrated from

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

and accumulated a fortune in mining, while his mother was member of a distinguished American-born Spanish family, and held the title of the fifth marchioness of San Clemente. Alamán's father was his mother's second husband, following the death of her first husband, Brigadier Gabriel de Arechederreta. Alamán had an older sister, María de Luz Estefanuia Anna José Ignacia Alamán y Escalada, born 1782, and an older half-brother, Juan Bautista Arechederreta. He studied at the ''amiga'', a children's school, run by Dona Josefa Camacho, and continued his studies at the Bethlehem School where Fr. Jose de San Geronimo taught Alamán how to write. In gratitude for the education that was provided, Alamán's father funded a renovation of its building. Alamán moved on to learn Latin and mathematics, and his father began introducing him to the management of the mining industry, a field in which the elder Alamán expected his son to work in one day. In 1808, a sixteen year old Alamán visited Mexico City where he learned French and then returned to Guanajuato where he continued to study mathematics, music, and drawing, while also reading the Latin classics. The Alamán family was wealthy and socially prominent through Alamán's early youth, but mining was an uncertain and volatile industry, and his father eventually suffered financial losses and died when Alamán was sixteen.

Mexican War of Independence

It was at this time that Alamán would witness decisive historical events that would forever change the future of Mexico. In 1808, the Spanish king Ferdinand VII was deposed by

Napoleon 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 ...

who replaced him with his brother

Joseph Bonaparte Joseph Bonaparte (born Giuseppe di Buonaparte, ; ; ; 7 January 176828 July 1844) was a French statesman, lawyer, diplomat and older brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. During the Napoleonic Wars, the latter made him King of Naples (1806–1808), an ...

, sparking a constitutional crisis throughout the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, as rejection of the new king was almost universal. The government of

chose to remain loyal to the imprisoned Ferdinand, but an uprising against the Spanish was triggered by the priest

on September 16, 1810, a date which would eventually be commemorated as the Mexican Independence Day He witnessed the sack of

after the capture of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in the early stages of the

during which the unorganized and ragged troops of

killed those taking refuge inside. Alamán fled with his family to Mexico City in December, 1810. At Mexico City he continued his studies in mining. He studied chemistry, mineralogy, calculus, and crystallography. It was amidst his discussions with the well travelled faculty that he also began to desire to travel to Europe where he wished to perfect his French and learn Italian and English.

Travels through Europe

He departed in January 1814 and first arrived at Spain where he visited Madrid and the Royal Palace of the

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...

. He then passed on to France where he arrived in Paris and visited Father Mier on whose recommendation Alamán was able to meet with Bishop Gregoire. He continued his studies in Paris under

René Just Haüy René Just Haüy () FRS MWS FRSE (28 February 1743 – 1 June 1822) was a French priest and mineralogist, commonly styled the Abbé Haüy after he was made an honorary canon of Notre-Dame de Paris, Notre Dame. Due to his innovative work on cryst ...

Jean-Baptiste Biot Jean-Baptiste Biot (; ; 21 April 1774 – 3 February 1862) was a French people, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician who co-discovered the Biot–Savart law of magnetostatics with Félix Savart, established the reality of meteorites, ma ...

, and Louis Jacques Thénard, and attended late night sessions of the Atheneum where he also began to learn German. Alamán was present in Paris during Napoleon's return from Elba, during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

, with Alamán leaving the country shortly afterward for a brief sojourn in Great Britain before returning to France. He next traveled to Italy, passing by Mont Cenis, and arriving in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. He visited the battlefields of

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

and Marengo and headed towards

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, passing through

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

before arriving in Rome where he was present for the Feast day of St. Peter which he spent with the family of the Spanish Cardinal Bardaji. He next visited

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and followed the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. Alamán studied mining in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and visited

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

before departing towards Holland and returning to France by 1818.

Delegate to the Cortes

He received the news that one of his family's financial interests had failed, and sought to remedy the matter through the application of his studies. He sought to bring to Mexico the technique of separating silver and gold through the use of

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

in contrast to the old technique of using

nitric acid Nitric acid is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but samples tend to acquire a yellow cast over time due to decomposition into nitrogen oxide, oxides of nitrogen. Most com ...

. He traveled to

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 ...

and succeeded in gaining permission from the government for doing so. He was the delegate of Mexico in the Cortes and worked to better the mining industry. Alamán arrived back in Mexico in February, 1820. Spain at this time through the Constitution of 1812 had granted representation to its colonies in the Spanish Cortes and Alamán was among the Mexican deputies sent to Madrid that year representing the province of

. He left for Spain with the rest of the deputies just as Agustin de Iturbide’s

Plan of Iguala The Plan of Iguala, also known as the Plan of the Three Guarantees ("Plan Trigarante") or Act of Independence of North America, was a revolutionary proclamation promulgated on 24 February 1821, in the final stage of the Mexican War of Independenc ...

began to gain ground, and which would ultimately gain independence for Mexico in September 1821. Alamán defended the rights of his district's mining interests and amidst ambiguous news regarding the progress of the Plan of Iguala, he also with the rest of the deputies lobbied the Spanish Cortes to establish in New Spain a more independent government. After the legislative session ended, Alamán rejected a post in the Spanish government and returned to Mexico.

First Mexican Republic

Alamán was administering his family's mining interests during which he witnessed the fall of the

First Mexican Empire The Mexican Empire (, ) was a constitutional monarchy and the first independent government of Mexico. It was also the only former viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire to establish a monarchy after gaining independence. The empire existed from 18 ...

and the establishment of the provisional government known as the Supreme Executive Power. Due to his experience in the Spanish Cortes, the Executive Power named Alamán as the Minister of the Interior and the Exterior. Alamán established a national archive and also a national museum. He allotted funds to the dying San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts, and saved from destruction the Equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain, which still survives to this day in Mexico City. He also hid the remains of

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

, which were threatened by the popular anti-Spanish fury that erupted in the wake of independence Alamán also successfully attracted British capital to Mexico. He was part of the group of conservatives who ousted insurgent general

Vicente Guerrero Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña (; baptized 10 August 1782 – 14 February 1831) was a Mexican military officer from 1810–1821 and a statesman who became the nation's second president in 1829. He was one of the leading generals who fought ag ...

from the presidency, who himself came to power by coup in 1829. Alamán was a member of the

triumvirate A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...

that briefly governed Mexico in 1829 after the Plan de Jalapa with the aim of installing conservative Anastasio Bustamante as president. Alamán was the leading figure of the conservatives as the regime change unfolded. Guerrero was captured by a merchant ship captain Picaluga paid 50,000 pesos for the deed, in January 1831, summarily tried in a court-martial, and executed a month later. Alamán viewed the execution of Guerrero as saving Mexico from "dissolution." Many Mexicans, however, saw Guerrero as a martyr and his execution was deemed by the liberal newspaper ''El Federalista Mexicano'' "judicial murder." The two conservative cabinet members considered most culpable for Guerrero's execution, Alamán and Secretary of War José Antonio Facio "spent the rest of their lives defending themselves from the charge that they were responsible for the ultimate betrayal in the history of the first republic, that is, that they had arranged not just for the service of Picaluga's ship but specifically for his capture of Guerrero." Alamán published a tract defending himself, drafted while in hiding in Mexico City. He also had many issues with the United States during this time. Alamán returned to the post of Minister of Interior and Exterior Relations in 1830–1832 under the Bustamante government. It was in this capacity that he named Manuel Victoria the Governor of Alta California on March 8, 1830. In October 1830, he created the ''Banco Nacional de Avío'', the first bank in Mexico, which provided the country with the financial infrastructure necessary for its burgeoning economy. Through this government investment bank, Alamán's plans to revive the textile industry, which took hold and prospered in Puebla and Veracruz even when Alamán was not part of the government.

Centralist Republic of Mexico

After what he saw as the disaster of Texas independence from Mexico in 1836, Alamán largely retired from politics, though he continued to promote what he saw as the interests of the country by serving as ''Director de la Junta de Fomento de la Industria'' (Directorate for the Promotion of Industry) from 1839 until his death in 1853. During the same period Alamán negotiated a deal with the United States to the north fixing the national borders of the two nations which held right up to the time of the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

1846–1848. He also promoted colonizing the northern provinces in order to stave off U.S.

expansionism Expansionism refers to states obtaining greater territory through military Imperialism, empire-building or colonialism. In the classical age of conquest moral justification for territorial expansion at the direct expense of another established p ...

. For most of the 1840s, he devoted himself primarily to writing the history of Mexico from the perspective of a conservative. His three-volume work ''Disertaciones sobre la Historia de la Republica mexicana'' (Mexico, 1844–1849) and his five-volume ''Historia de México, desde los primeros movimientos que prepararon su independencia en el año de 1808, hasta la época presente'' (Mexico, 1849–1852), stand as the major intellectual productions of the Conservative Party in nineteenth-century Mexico, and the only histories produced by a Mexican author of his era to view the Spanish presence in his country favorably.

Mexican American War

Among his more important actions are the creation of the Natural History Museum in

and the foundation of Mexico's General National Archive. The latter has been very important for learning about the historical events in Mexico and understanding the political processes of the Mexican Republic. He also founded and ran a mining company, established the first metal foundry in independent Mexico in 1825, administered the estates of the descendants of

, and served as president of the Mexico City ''ayuntamiento'' (city council) in 1849. Although Alamán was in general anti-American, he was dismayed by the withdrawal of the U.S. Army, which had protected property against "bandits and rebels."

Last Years

Santa Anna and Lucas Alamán were in correspondence during Santa Anna's exile following the debacle of the

Mexican American War Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

. Alamán helped pave the way for Santa Anna's return to power with conservative support "if he agreed to a program of cessation of political activity against the Church and security for the holders of large propertied interests." Alamán returned to national public service in March 1853, when Santa Anna appointed him Minister of Foreign Relations. He is also known for a few things he wrote: ''Disertaciones sobre la historia de la república mejicana as well as Historia de México.'' Alamán served until his death from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on June 2, 1853.

Published works

*''Canción patriótica en celebridad de los días de nuestro augusto y deseado monarca''. Mexico city: Oficina de Ontiveros 1812. *''Defensa del ex-ministro de relaciones D. Lucas Alamán, en la causa formada contra él y contra los ex-ministros de guerra y justicia del vice-presidente D. Anastasio Bustamante, con unas noticias preliminares que dan idea del origen de esta. Escrita por el mismo ex-ministro, que la dirige á la nación''. Mexico City: Imprenta de Galván á cargo de M. Arévalo 1834. *''Historia de Méjico''. 5 vols. Mexico City 1868–69. *'' Memorias, la verdadera historia de esta república desde el año 1808'' (1840) *. Mexico City: Impreso por I. Cumplido, 1845. *''Disertaciones'' 3 vols. Mexico 1869. *''Documentos diversos''. 4 vols. Mexico 1846. *''Ensayo sobre la decadencia de la minería en la Nueva España''.

Archival materials

Ynsfran, Pablo Max. "Catalogo del Archivo de Don Lucas Alamán que se Conserva en la Universidad de Texas, Austin" ''Historia Mexicana'' Vol. 4, No. 2 (Oct. – Dec. 1954), pp. 281–316

Honors

Eponymy

;

Genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

: * (

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

) '' Alamania'' La Llave & Lex. ;

Species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

: * (

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

) '' Perezia alamani'' ( DC.) Hemsl. * (

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

) '' Jatropha alamanii'' Müll.Arg. * (

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large Family (biology), family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 specie ...

) '' Colubrina alamanii'' G.DonGen. Hist. 2: 37. 1832 (IK)

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alaman, Lucas 19th-century Mexican historians Mexican monarchists Historians of Mexico Secretaries of the interior of Mexico Secretaries of foreign affairs of Mexico 1792 births 1853 deaths Writers from Guanajuato Politicians from Guanajuato People from Guanajuato (city) Deaths from pneumonia in Mexico Conservatism in Mexico 19th-century Mexican male writers 19th-century Mexican scientists 19th-century Mexican politicians