Cánovas del Castillo, Antonio

Cánovas del Castillo, Antonio (äntô`nyō kä`nōväs dĕl kästē`lyō), 1828–97, Spanish conservative politician, historian, and man of letters. During Spain's recurrent political crises from 1868 to 1874, he took the lead in advocating the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. When Alfonso XII was proclaimed (1875) king, Cánovas established a regency ministry and became premier for six years (with short interruptions in 1875 and 1879) thereafter. He was the driving force behind the constitution of 1876, which created a conservative parliamentary monarchy with restricted suffrage. He managed to conciliate the Carlists and the Catholics, and to further stabilize the monarchy, he worked out a political arrangement that rotated power between his conservatives and the Liberal party. After 1881 he alternated as premier with the Liberal leader, Sagasta. Politically dominant for two decades, Cánovas began to experience serious difficulties with the rise of working-class opposition and, after 1895, the insurrection in Cuba. He was unsuccessfully attempting to deal with the latter when he was assassinated by an anarchist. The editor of Historia general de España (18 vol., 1891–97), he also wrote several historical and critical works, and must be considered the greatest Spanish statesman of the late 19th cent.

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Cánovas del Castillo, Antonio 

Born Feb. 8, 1828, in Málaga; died Aug. 8, 1897, in Santa Águeda. Spanish government figure, writer, and historian.

Cánovas del Castillo was a liberal in his youth, helping to develop the Manzanares program of 1854, which called for convening a constituent cortes, lowering taxes, and creating a popular militia. In 1857 he was governor of Cádiz and in 1864 minister of finance. During the revolution of 1868–74 he came out against a republic and for the Bourbon monarchy. One of the chief architects of the 1874 restoration, he was the founder (1875) and leader of the Conservative Party. From 1875 to 1881 (with brief intervals), 1884 to 1885, 1890 to 1892, and 1895 to 1897 he was prime minister. He contributed to the strengthening of the country’s system of constitutional monarchy. He was assassinated by an Italian anarchist.

WORKS

Historia de la decadencia de España …, 2nd ed. Madrid, 1910.
Estudios del reinado de Felipe IV, vols. 1–2. Madrid, 1888.
Obras poéticas. Madrid, 1887.