Canovas del Castillo, Antonio

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.