Juan Bravo Murillo

Juan Bravo Murillo studied at University of Salamanca and University of Seville. The recorded working language is Spanish. Places of work recorded in the authority are Madrid. Positions recorded include member of the Cortes during the reign of Isabel II and Senator for Life of Spain. Distinctions recorded are Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, Senator grand cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (Parma), Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX and Commander of the Order of the Redeemer.

• Born — 24 June 1803 • Birthplace — Fregenal de la Sierra, Spain • Died — 11 February 1873 • Place of death — Madrid, Spain • Honorific Prefix — The Most Excellent • Name — Juan Bravo Murillo • Party — Moderate Party • Occupation — Lawyer • Monarch — Isabella II • Office — Prime Minister of Spain • Term Start — 1851 01 14 • Term End — 1852 12 14 • Predecessor — The Duke of Valencia • Successor — The Count of Alcoy • Office2 — President of the Congress of Deputies • Term Start2 — 1858 01 11 • Term End2 — 1858 05 13 • Predecessor2 — Francisco Martínez de la Rosa • Successor2 — Francisco Martínez de la Rosa • Office3 — Minister of Grace and Justice • Term Start3 — 1847 01 28 • Term End3 — 1847 03 28 • Term Start4 — 1851 07 28 • Term End4 — 1851 09 03 • Office5 — Minister of Finance • Term Start5 — 1849 08 19 • Term End5 — 1849 10 19 • Term Start6 — 1849 10 20 • Term End6 — 1850 11 29 • Term Start7 — 1851 01 14 • Term End7 — 1852 12 14 • Office8 — Acting Minister of the Navy • Term Start8 — 1849 01 16 • Term End8 — 1849 01 29 • Office9 — Minister of Trade, Public Instruction and Works • Term Start9 — 1847 11 10 • Term End9 — 1849 09 13 • Office10 — Member of the Congress of Deputies • Term Start10 — 1837 • Term End10 — 1858 • Office11 — Senator for life • Term Start11 — 1863 • Term End11 — 1868

Bravo Murillo was born in Fregenal de la Sierra on 24 June 1803. After briefly studying theology, he studied law at the University of Salamanca and the University of Seville, obtaining his licentiate from Seville in 1825. He practiced law for a time in Seville. After the death of Fernando VII in 1833 he was named prosecutor of the Audiencia Provincial of Cádiz, a position he held for two years before moving to Madrid, where he co-published a journal called Boletín de Jurisprudencia. He was also a founder of the conservative newspaper El Porvenir.

He was elected a deputy (member of the lower house of Spain's parliament) in 1837 and 1840 as a member of the Moderate Party. However, his reactionary views kept him out of leadership during the decidedly liberal ascendancy of General Baldomero Espartero, regent during this portion of the minority of Isabella II. He emigrated briefly to France after the Spanish Revolution of 1841, but returned in 1843 after Espartero's fall, the beginning of the década moderada. • Illustration — Bust of Bravo Murillo in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In January 1847 he was named Minister of Grace and Justice in the government of Carlos Martínez de Irujo, Duke of Sotomayor. General Ramón María Narváez later named him Minister of Commerce, Instruction, and Public Works, then in 1849 Minister of Finance. He was named President of the Council of Ministers of Spain, effectively prime minister, taking office on 14 January 1851, while serving as his own Minister of Finance. The events of the Revolutions of 1848 throughout Europe led him to propose an anti-parliamentarian, absolutist constitution for Spain in 1852, countering the moderate liberal tendency of the Spanish Constitution of 1845, but it proved unpopular and was rejected. He lost his position as head of government 14 December 1852; the onset of the bienio progresista some 18 months later led him to leave Spain, returning in 1856. He served as President of the Congress of Deputies in 1858, and was named to the Spanish Senate in 1863 as a senator for life. He is responsible for founding Canal de Isabel II, the public company that still brings water to Madrid, the establishment of civil service exams (oposiciones), the introduction of the metric system into Spain in 1849, the Concordat of 1851 that settled differences between the Spanish government and the Holy See, and the 1852 Canaries Free Ports Act. He was also responsible for a variety of measures in his capacity as minister of finance, and founded what later became the Boletín Oficial del Estado, which remains the Spanish government's official gazette to this day. The most interesting of his writings were published in six volumes entitled Opúsculos ("Pamphlets", 1863–1874). He died in Madrid on 11 February 1873.

Bravo Murillo was elected to the Congress of Deputies on 12 occasions, and represented constituencies in five different provinces (sometimes two of them at the same time): • Election number — Election date — District — Province — Took office — Left office • 09 — 22 September 1837 — At large — Seville — 19 December 1837 — 1 June 1839 • 11 — 19 January 1840 — At large — Ávila — 21 February 1840 — 11 October 1840 • 14 — 15 September 1843 — At large — Badajoz — 18 October 1843 — 10 July 1844 • 15 — 3 September 1844 — At large — Badajoz — 14 October 1844 — 31 October 1846 • 16 — 21 June 1846 — Fregenal de la Sierra — Badajoz — 3 January 1847 — 18 December 1848 • 16 — 21 June 1846 — Fregenal de la Sierra — Badajoz — 20 December 1847 — 4 August 1850 • 17 — 31 August 1850 — Fregenal de la Sierra — Badajoz — 6 November 1850 — 7 April 1851 • 17 — 31 August 1850 — Huelva — Huelva — 6 November 1850 — 15 November 1850 • 18 — 10 May 1851 — Elche de la Sierra — Albacete — 4 June 1851 — 17 June 1851 • 18 — 10 May 1851 — Fregenal de la Sierra — Badajoz — 4 June 1851 — 2 December 1852 • 19 — 4 February 1853 — Fregenal de la Sierra — Badajoz — 15 March 1853 — 10 December 1853 • 21 — 25 February 1857 — Fregenal de la Sierra — Badajoz — 6 May 1857 — 13 May 1858 Source:

• President: Juan Bravo Murillo • State: Manuel Bertrán de Lis y Ribes • Finance: Juan Bravo Murillo • Grace and Justice: Ventura González Romero • Governance: Fermín Arteta • War: Rafael de Arístegui (Count of Mirasol) • Marine: José María Bustillo (Count of Bustillo) • Development: Santiago Fernández Negrete Source:

• President: Juan Bravo Murillo • State: Manuel Pando Fernández de Pineda (Marquis of Miraflores); later Manuel Bertrán de Lis Ribes returned to the position. • Finance: Juan Bravo Murillo • Grace and Justice: Ventura González Romero • Governance: Manuel Bertrán de Lis Ribes, later Melchor Ordóñez and Cristóbal Bordíu • War: Francisco Alejandro Lersundi y Ormaechea, later Cayetano Urbina y Daoiz • Marine: Francisco Armero de Peñaranda (Marquess of Nervión), later Joaquín Ezpeleta y Enrile • Development: Fermín Arteta, later Mariano Miguel Reinoso Source: