Prim y Prats, Juan

Prim y Prats, Juan 

Born Dec. 6, 1814, in Reus; died Dec. 30, 1870, in Madrid. Spanish politician and lieutenant general (1857). Son of an officer in the Spanish Army.

Prim entered military service at the age of 19. He took part in military operations against the Carlists. In 1843, as one of the leaders of the bourgeois liberal party of the progresistas, he participated in the overthrow of B. Espartero. Prim became military governor of Madrid in 1843 and captain general of Catalonia in 1843–44. With the establishment of the dictatorship of R. M. Narváez in 1844, Prim went over to the opposition and was forced to leave Spain. He returned in 1847. From 1847 to 1850 he was captain general of Puerto Rico. In 1853–54 he served as military adviser to the Turkish Army, which was operating in the Crimea.

In 1854, Prim supported L. O’Donnell in the Cortes; subsequently he spoke out against O’Donnell’s attempts at reconciliation with the royal court, against which Prim waged an active struggle. In 1859–60 he fought in Spain’s colonial war against Morocco, and in 1861–62 he led a Spanish expeditionary corps in Mexico. Prim took part in preparing for the uprising in Cadiz in September 1868 that laid the foundation for the Spanish Revolution of 1868–74. During the revolution he advocated a constitutional monarchy. In 1869, Prim became prime minister. He supported the election to the Spanish throne of Amadeo of Savoy. On the day of Amadeo’s arrival in Spain, Prim was assassinated.