Vicente Emparán (, or sometimes Emparan ; 1747 – 3 October 1842) was a Spanish Captain General. Emparán was born in

Azpeitia Azpeitia (meaning 'down the rock' in Basque language, Basque) is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality within the Provinces of Spain, province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain, located on ...

Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantique ...

, Basque Country, in 1747 as the son of José Joaquín de Emparan. He was governor of Cumaná Province in the

Captaincy General of Venezuela The Captaincy General of Venezuela (), was an administrative district of colonial Spain, created on September 8, 1777, through the Royal Decree of Graces of 1777, to provide more autonomy for the provinces of Venezuela, previously under the ju ...

between 1792 and 1804, where he had gained a favorable reputation among Venezuelans.McKingley, 154. By 1808, Emparán had returned to Spain during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. There Joseph I's recently installed government named him Captain General of Venezuela, but after this appointment Emparán crossed over to the territory controlled by the Supreme Central Junta. He swore allegiance to the Junta and to

Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

, the king who was being held captive by the French invaders. In January 1809 the Central Junta ratified his appointment to replace the former captain general, Manuel de Guevara y Vasconcelos, who had died two years earlier. Emparán arrived in Venezuela in May 1809. During the following year he successfully avoided several attempts by the elites to establish a junta in Venezuela (among them the famous ''Conspiración de Los Mantuanos''), often by personally talking with proponents of the movements. Although a well-liked governor, on 19 April 1810, various members of the municipal council ('' cabildo'') of Caracas and other important residents took advantage of the large crowds gathered for

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...

services to orchestrate popular agitation for the establishment of a junta. The crowd prevented him from arriving at the cathedral for the day's services and he was directed to the ''cabildo'' building (today site of the ''Casa Amarilla'') just across the main square from the cathedral. There he met with an expanded council (''cabildo abierto''). Emparán spoke directly to the crowd from the balcony of the building and seeing the amount of support for a junta, he voluntarily stepped down. The ''cabildo'' transformed itself into the Supreme Junta of Caracas, and began to manage the affairs of the province. Following his ouster, he left for

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, United States, from where he reported to the Spanish government on the events of 19 April, before returning to Spain. There, it seems, he was tried for his failure to stop the establishment of a junta, but was acquitted. He died in

El Puerto de Santa María El Puerto de Santa María (), locally known as El Puerto and historically in English as Port Saint Mary, is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. , the c ...

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, Spain on 3 October 1842.

References

* ''Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela''. Caracas: Fundacíon Polar, 1997. * McKingley, P. Michael. ''Pre-Revolutionary Caracas: Politics, Economy, and Society, 1777–1811''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. * Parra Pérez, Caracciolo. ''Historia de la Primera República de Venezuela''. Madrid: Ediciones Guadarrama, 1959. {{DEFAULTSORT:Emparan, Vicente 1747 births 1842 deaths People from Azpeitia Spanish generals Captains general of Venezuela People of the Venezuelan War of Independence Independence of Venezuela

See also

References