Pascual Madoz

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Madoz and the second or maternal family name is Ibáñez.

Pascual Madoz Ibáñez (17 May 1806 – 13 December 1870) was a Spanish politician and statistician.

The Most Excellent Pascual Madoz
Prime Minister of Spain
In office 30 September 1868 – 3 October 1868
Monarch	Vacant
Preceded by	Jose Gutierrez de la Concha
Succeeded by	Francisco Serrano
Personal details
Born	Pascual Madoz Ibáñez (1806-05-17)17 May 1806 Pamplona, Kingdom of Spain
Died	13 December 1870(1870-12-13) (aged 64) Genoa, Kingdom of Italy
Resting place	Montjuïc Cemetery

Biography

Diccionario geográfico-estadístico-histórico de España y sus posesiones de Ultramar (Madrid, 1845)

In early life Madoz was settled in Barcelona, as a writer and journalist. He envisioned the construction of the Vielha tunnel. He joined the Progresista party formed during the First Carlist War, 1833–40. He saw some service against the Carlists; was elected deputy to the Cortes of 1836; took part for Baldomero Espartero, Count of Luchana, and then against him; was imprisoned in 1843; went into exile and returned. In 1854 after the Vicalvarada he was appointed governor of Barcelona. He then returned to his seat as a deputy, presided over the Cortes, and on 21 January 1855 was appointed Minister of Finance. In that role, he proposed and had passed the civil confiscation law of 1855 which sold off communal lands, Church lands, and those of various confraternities, although he left office shortly after its passage.^[1]

Beginning in 1859 he was a member of the governing board over the military retention and enlistment funds. In 1860, he founded and directed the real estate and insurance company "La Peninsular".^[2] Unfortunately after initial success, the company floundered leaving Madoz in financial distress.^[1] After the revolution of 1868 he was appointed governor of Madrid, but soon resigned over disagreements with the provisional government under Francisco Serrano.

Nonetheless after Amadeo of Savoy was to be offered the Spanish throne, Madoz went as a commissioner to Genoa in 1870 to offer Amadeo the crown.^[1] Unfortunately he became ill and died there in Genoa.^[3] He was later interred in the Montjuïc Cemetery in Barcelona.

Works

Madoz was distinguished from most of the politicians of his generation by the fact that in mid-life he compiled what is still a book of value: a geographical, statistical and historical gazetteer or dictionary of localities in Spain and its overseas possessions, Diccionario geográfico, estadístico y histórico de España, y sus posesiones de Ultramar (Madrid, 1848–1850).^[3] It, along with his Atlas de España y sus posesiones de Ultramar, are considered milestones in Spanish geography.^[4]

Public recognition

In Pamplona there is a street, Calle de Pascual Madoz, named in his honor.

Further reading

• Paredes Alonso, Francisco Javier (1991). Pascual Madoz 1805-1870: Libertad en la monarquía isabelina (in Spanish) (Second ed.). Pamplona: Universidad de Navarra. ISBN 978-84-313-0760-8. originally published in 1982.
• Morales Matos, Guillermo; García-Bellido, Javier; de Asís Roig, Agustín E., eds. (2005). Pascual Madoz (1805-1870), Un político transformador del territorio: Homenaje en el bicentenario de su nacimiento (in Spanish). Madrid: Instituto Pascual Madoz del Territorio, Urbanismo y Medio Ambiente, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. ISBN 84-8164-886-8.