Manuel María Mallarino Ibargüen (18 June 1808 – 6 January 1872) was the

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

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 ...

New Granada New Granada may refer to various former national denominations for the present-day country of Colombia: *New Kingdom of Granada, from 1538 to 1717 *Viceroyalty of New Granada, from 1717 to 1810, re-established from 1816 to 1822 *United Provinces of ...

, and as such served as

Acting President An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or visiting abroad) or when the post is vacant (such as for death Death is the en ...

from 1855 to 1857.

Personal life

Manuel María was born on 18 June 1808 in

Santiago de Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, then part of the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...

, the oldest child of José María Mallarino y Vargas, a Spaniard natural of

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

of Italian descent, and Juana María de la Concepción Ibargüen (née Scarpetta Roo y Bedoya), a

Criolla Criolla is a genre of Cuban music which is closely related to the music of the Cuban Coros de Clave and a genre of Cuban popular music called Clave. The Clave became a very popular genre in the Cuban vernacular theater and was created by compo ...

natural of Cali also of Italian descent. His two younger siblings were María Josefa and Francisco Antonio. He attended the

University of Cauca The University of Cauca () is a public university, public research university located in the city of Popayán, capital of the department of Cauca Department, Cauca, Colombia. It was created on April 24, 1827, by a decree by the President Franci ...

graduating

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

on 17 July 1831. On 11 August 1836 he married María Mercedes Cabal, daughter of José Antonio Víctor Cabal Molina and María Petrona Borrero y Costa, and natural of

Buga Buga may refer to: * Buga (surname) Places * Mount Buga, an inactive volcano in Zamboanga del Sur province, the Philippines * Buga (barangay), a barangay in San Miguel Municipality, Bulacan, Philippines * Buga, Valle del Cauca, city and municipa ...

, in his father-in-law's hacienda in El Cerrito. Manuel María and María Mercedes had seven children: José María, Victor, Antonio, Susana, Gonzalo, Sofía, and Julio Daniel. His nephews Carlos and

Jorge Holguín Mallarino Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'' ...

, sons of his sister María Josefa, became prominent Conservative party politicians who like him served in Congress and as Acting Presidents; Jorge went on to serve as the 10th

President of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...

Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1846–1848)

Mallarino served as the 21st, 23rd, and 25th Secretary of Foreign Affairs of New Granada during the Administration of President

Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera y Arboleda Tomás may refer to: * Tomás (given name) * Tomás (surname) Tomás is a Spanish, Portuguese, or Irish surname, equivalent of '' Thomas''. It may refer to: * Antonio Tomás (born 1985), professional Spanish footballer * Belarmino Tomás (18 ...

. In 1846, Chancellor Mallarino was commissioned to negotiate and sign with the United States Chargé d'Affaires in New Granada,

Benjamin Alden Bidlack Benjamin Alden Bidlack (September 8, 1804 – February 6, 1849) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney who served as a member of the US House of Representatives and was later appointed chargé d'affaires to New Granada. While se ...

, the

Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty The Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty (also known as the Bidlack Treaty and Treaty of New Granada) was a treaty signed between New Granada (today Colombia and Panama) and the United States, on December 12, 1846.Kellogg Institute at the University of Notr ...

, an agreement of mutual cooperation between the United States and

that granted the US significant transit rights over the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...

, as well as military powers to suppress social conflicts and independence struggles targeted against New Granada. However this treaty would later be recalled by the US to justify American involvement in the

Separation of Panama from Colombia The secession of Panama from Colombia was formalized on 3 November 1903, with the establishment of the Republic of Panama and the abolition of the Colombia-Costa Rica border. From the Independence of Panama from Spain in 1821, Panama had simu ...

Vice Presidency (1855–1859)

On 17 April 1854 General

José María Melo y Ortiz José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

deposed President

José María Obando del Campo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

in a ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

''. Later that year General Melo agreed to step down and handed power back to the previous administration; President Obando had been formally impeached by Congress so the Executive Power lay in the hands of Vice President José de Obaldía y Orejuela as

as the New Granadian Constitution of 1832 did not allow for a full succession of power. The Constitution also prescribed for separate elections for President and Vice President set two years apart, so in 1855 when Vice President Obaldía's term came to an end Congress set out to elect his successor and elected Mallarino to succeed Obaldía. Mallarino took office as the

on 1 April 1855 becoming

of New Granada. In 1857 Mallarino handed Executive Power to the newly elected President,

Mariano Ospina Rodríguez Mariano Ospina Rodríguez (October 18, 1805 - January 11, 1885) was a Colombian people, Colombian politician, journalist and lawyer, founder of the Colombian Conservative Party and later President of Colombia between 1857 and 1861Arismendi Pos ...

, who took office on 1 April; he then served out the remaining of his term as Ospina's Vice President until 1 April 1857. President Ospina set out to rewrite the Constitution, eliminating the Office of the Vice President among other substantial changes. Mallarino was thus the last Vice President of New Granada as he had no successor. The country would not have another Vice President until 1886 when the

Colombian Constitution of 1886 The Colombian Constitution of 1886 was the constitution that remade the United States of Colombia into the Republic of Colombia, and replaced the federal republic with a unitary state. Following the Colombian Civil War (1884–1885), a coalitio ...

reopened the Vice Presidency.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1861)

In 1861 Mallarino was tapped again to serve as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, this time appointed by President Bartolomé Calvo Díaz during the Civil War of 1860–1862. For this reason when Mallarino took office on 1 April 1861 as the 2nd Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the

Granadine Confederation The Granadine Confederation () was a short-lived federal republic established in 1858 as a result of a constitutional change replacing the Republic of New Granada. It consisted of the present-day nations of Colombia and Panama and parts of north ...

he only served until 10 July, when General Mosquera, under whose Administration he had served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the past, deposed President Calvo and toppled the Government.

References

External links