Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero (4 September 1832 – 30 May 1915) was a Spanish soldier-politician and

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 ...

following the restoration of the Spanish monarchy. He served as Prime Minister in 1897, 1900–1901, and 1904–1905. Azcárraga was the only Spanish Prime Minister of part Insulares, specifically

Spanish Filipino Spanish Filipino or Hispanic Filipino ( Spanish: Español Filipino, Hispano Filipino, Tagalog: Kastílang Pilipino, Cebuano: Katsílà) are people of Spanish and Filipino heritage. The term may also include Filipino mestizos of Spanish ances ...

, descent.

Early life

Azcárraga was born in 1832, in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

in the

Spanish East Indies The Spanish East Indies were the colonies of the Spanish Empire in Asia-Pacific, Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1901, governed through the Captaincy General of the Philippines, captaincy general in Manila for the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish Crown, i ...

, to General José de Azcárraga y Ugarte, a native of Vizcaya, Spain, a bookshop owner in Escolta, Manila, and to María Palmero y Verzosa de Lizárraga, from

Albay Albay (IPA: ), officially the Province of Albay (; ; Baybayin, ᜎᜎᜏᜒᜄᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜀᜎ᜔ᜊᜌ᜔), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Bicol Region of the Philippines, mostly on the southeastern part of the isla ...

Education

General José Azcárraga had many sons and daughters. Azcárraga was the second of the family's children. He studied law in the Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manila then entered the Nautical School or Escuela Náutica de Manila (today, the

Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) is a maritime higher education institution operated by the Philippine government in San Narciso, Zambales. Students are called midshipmen but are often also referred to as cadets. Upon graduation, cadet ...

) where he was awarded the first prize in mathematics.Cosas de historia y arte (August, 19th 2017)
Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero, Reinado de Alfonso XIII y Regencia de María Cristina
(Spanish)

Military service

He was sent to Spain by his father to enter the military academy and soon earned the rank of captain in three years. Due to his services against the O'Donnell revolution in Spain, he was promoted to major.

Military awards

At the age of 23, he was awarded Spain's highest military award for gallantry the Cross of San Fernando, which is a pension grant.

Colonial service

He was sent to various colonies of Spain, including

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 ...

, the

Captaincy General of Cuba The Captaincy General of Cuba () was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire created in 1607 as part of Habsburg Spain's attempt to better defend and administer its Caribbean possessions. The reform also established captaincies general i ...

, and the

Captaincy General of Santo Domingo The Captaincy General of Santo Domingo ( ) was the first Captaincy in the New World, established by Spain in 1492 on the island of Hispaniola. The Captaincy, under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo, was granted administra ...

Marriage

Afterward, he returned to Cuba and married one of the daughters of the wealthy Fesser family, owner and founder of Banco y Casa de Seguros Fesser, one of the biggest banks of Cuba, who allegedly gave him £20,000 on the day of his marriage. He was the husband of Margarita Fesser Diago, a daughter of Edward also known as Don Eduardo Fesser y Kirchnair of the United States and Micaela Diago Tato of Havana. They owned the Almacenes de Regla (Regla Warehouse) and Banco de Comercio and all the rail lines between

Regla Regla () is one of the 15 municipalities or boroughs (''municipios'' in Spanish) in the city of Havana, Cuba. It comprises the town of Regla, located at the bottom of Havana Bay in a former aborigine settlement named ''Guaicanamar'', Loma Modelo ...

and

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas Province, Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-American religions, Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Mat ...

, then known as the Ferrocaril de la Bahia de la Habana. Almacenes de Regla, founded in 1843 with initial capital of 150,000

Cuban peso The Cuban peso ( in Spanish language, Spanish, ISO 4217 code: CUP) also known as (Spanish for 'national currency'), is the official currency of Cuba. The Cuban peso historically circulated at par with the Spanish dollar, Spanish-American silver ...

s, was so large that it stored half of all of Cuba's sugar production, and by 1853, had increased its original capital tenfold. His children were Carlos de Azcárraga Fesser; Margarita de Azcárraga Fesser ''de'' Trenor Palavicino, the first ''marquesa'' of Turia; María de Azcárraga Fesser; the Spanish politician and military statesman José María de Azcarraga Fesser, and María del Carmen de Azcarraga Fesser. His direct descendant includes Don Tomas Trenor Puig of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

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 ...

, the fourth Marquis of Turia.

Years as Prime Minister

In 1868, on the deposition of

Queen Isabella II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

, he returned to Spain, hastened the restoration of the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. A branch descended from ...

, and became Lieutenant-General on the coronation of

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo de Borbón y Borbón; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as ''El Pacificador'' (Spanish: the Peacemaker), was King of Spain from 29 D ...

as king. He was then elected to the

Senate of Spain The Senate () is the upper house of the , which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. The presiding officer of the ...

as a senator for life. He was the

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

under

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (8 February 18288 August 1897) was a Spanish people, Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Spanish Prime Minister, prime minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the ...

, whose assassination on 8 August 1897 effectively made him the '' interim''

until 4 October of that same year. He went on to become Prime Minister of Spain twice again in two more separate incidents.

Retirement

On his retirement at the age of 72, he was given the ''Toison de Oro'', or

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

, the highest possible distinction given to a person in Spain, for his tirelessly defending the

Spanish Monarchy The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...

and for keeping Spain in relative peace. Earlier, he received the Cross of San Fernando which already entitled him to a pension. Don Marcelo Azcárraga died in Madrid.

Family and Ancestry

On his mother's side, Azcárraga descends from the

Lizarraga family, heirs of the fallen Conde de Lizarraga. His maternal uncles' families, collectively known as the "Palmero brothers" or "Hermanos Palmero" were active in Philippine politics before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was also an uncle to the Count of Albay, Pedro Govantes. His brother Manuel was a scholar who wrote a book on the Philippine economy.

Tribute

The major road stretching in the central city of

was named after Azcárraga. However, it was changed after Filipino independence in 1945 to Claro M. Recto Avenue, after Philippine Senator Claro M. Recto. A few of the older Manila residents still call this road "Calle Azcárraga" or "Paseo de Azcárraga".