Sagasta, Práxedes Mateo

Sagasta, Práxedes Mateo (präk`sāthās mätā`ō sägä`stä), 1825–1903, Spanish statesman. A leader of the Progressive party in the Cortes, he was twice exiled for his opposition to the government of Isabella II. In 1868 he led, with Juan Prim, the revolution that resulted in the queen's deposition. He served as premier (1871–72) under King Amadeus and as cabinet minister under the first Spanish republic but retired after the restoration (1875) of Alfonso XII. In 1880 the Liberal party was founded under his leadership, and Sagasta alternated in power with Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, the conservative leader; he was premier five times (1881–83, 1885–90, 1892–95, 1897–99, 1901–2). In 1897, Sagasta granted autonomy to Cuba, which had been in revolt since 1895, but he was unable to prevent U.S. intervention and the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War of 1898. He was generally considered opportunistic, and blamed for the sterility of Spanish politics during the 1880s and 1890s.

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Sagasta, Práxedes Mateo 

Born July 21, 1827, in Torrecilla en Cameros; died Jan. 5, 1903, in Madrid. Spanish political figure.

In 1848, Sagasta joined the party of the progressives; during the revolution of 1854–56 he was head of the revolutionary junta in Zamora and a deputy to the Cortes. Sagasta opposed O’Donnell, who dissolved the Cortes in 1856; he fought on the barricades of Madrid in a detachment of the people’s militia. After the defeat of the revolution, Sagasta emigrated, but he soon returned to Spain. From 1866 to 1868 he was again in emigration. During the revolution of 1868–74 he headed the revolutionary regime in Cádiz. He subsequently headed various ministries, and from 1871 to 1872 he was premier. Later, as leader of the Liberal Party, Sagasta was premier in the periods 1881–83, 1885–90, 1892–95, 1897–99, and 1901–02.