Práxedes Mateo Sagasta

The Most Excellent Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Portrait of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Prime Minister of Spain
In office 7 March 1901 – 10 December 1902
Monarchs	Maria Christina of Austria (regent) (1901–02) Alfonso XIII (1902)
Preceded by	Marcelo Azcárraga
Succeeded by	Francisco Silvela
In office 5 October 1897 – 7 March 1899
Monarchs	Maria Christina of Austria (regent)
Preceded by	Marcelo Azcárraga
Succeeded by	Francisco Silvela
In office 13 December 1892 – 24 March 1895
Monarchs	Maria Christina of Austria (regent)
Preceded by	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Succeeded by	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
In office 28 November 1885 – 8 July 1890
Monarchs	Maria Christina of Austria (regent)
Preceded by	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Succeeded by	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
In office 10 February 1881 – 14 October 1883
Monarch	Alfonso XII
Preceded by	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Succeeded by	José Posada Herrera
Personal details
Born	(1825-07-21)21 July 1825 Torrecilla en Cameros, Logroño, Spain
Died	(1903-01-05)5 January 1903 (aged 77) Madrid, Spain
Political party	Liberal Party
Signature

Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar (21 July 1825 – 5 January 1903) was a Spanish civil engineer and politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas. He was known as an excellent orator.

Biography

Mateo-Sagasta was born on 21 July 1825 at Torrecilla en Cameros, province of Logroño, Spain. As a member of the Progressive Party while a student at the Civil Engineering School of Madrid in 1848, Sagasta was the only one in the school who refused to sign a letter supporting Queen Isabel II.

After his studies, he took an active role in government. Sagasta served in the Spanish Cortes between 1854–1857 and 1858–1863. In 1866 he went into exile in France after a failed coup. After the Spanish Revolution of 1868, he returned to Spain to take part in the newly-created provisional government.

He served as Prime Minister of Spain during the Spanish–American War of 1898 when Spain lost its remaining colonies. Sagasta agreed to an autonomous constitution for both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Sagasta's political opponents saw his action as a betrayal of Spain and blamed him for the country's defeat in the war and the loss of its island territories in the Treaty of Paris of 1898. He continued to be active in politics for another four years.

Sagasta died on 5 January 1903 in Madrid.

External links

• U.S. Library of Congress Profile