Son of a textile worker; attended a seminary (1831-1837); studied philosophy and law in the University of Barcelona, earning his doctoral degree; moved to Madrid (1847); wrote for the journals El Renacimiento and El Correo; became a member of Partido Demócrata (Democratic Party) in 1848; worked for Catalonian bank, Martí; participated in the revolution of 1854 and published La reacción y la revolución, in which he revealed his political credo; influenced by philosophy of Hegel and Proudhon, he founded La Razón, a journal close by reactionary government; moved to Vergara, Guipuscoa, Basque country, where lived until 1857; on request of Nicolás María Rivero, he returned to Madrid to work for the Republican daily La Discusión; assumed the position of director in La Discusión in 1864; following an unsuccessful revolt of 1866 in Madrid, he fled to Paris; developed ideas about revolution and philosophy of history; was elected to the Cortes Constituyentes (Constituent Cortes, 1869-1871) as a deputy for Barcelona; rose to prominence in politics as a leader of the republican minority in Partido Republicano Democrático Federal (Federal Democratic Republican Party); voted for República federal during the election of Spanish king (16 Nov 1870); elected to the Cortes as a deputy for Barcelona (1871-1873); after the proclamation of the First Republic, he was named minister of the interior (12 Feb 1873 - 18 Jul 1873) by the Asamblea Nacional (National Assembly), which appointed the government of Estanislao Figueras; on two occasions acted for Figueras as Presidente interino del Poder Ejecutivo and Presidente interino del Gobierno de la República (10 Mar 1873 - 25 Mar 1873, 22 Apr 1873 - 28 Apr 1873); suppressed the Cantonalist rising; elected to the Constituent Cortes (1873-1874) as a deputy for Barcelona; elected President of the Executive Power (11 Jun 1873 - 18 Jul 1873) and formed a government, retaining the position of interior minister; presented to the Cortes an ambitious plan of reform, but resigned due to a lack of support from political allies; after the collapse of the Republic, abandoned political scene for almost a decade; returned to writings, publishing La República de 1873 (1874), Las Nacionalidades (1877), Historia General de América (1878), La Federación (1880), Las luchas de nuestros días (1884) and other works; deputy of the Cortes (1886-1892, 1893-1895, 1899-1901); participated in the Republican Congress of Zaragoza (1883), calling for promulgation of a federal republican constitution for Spain; founded the newspaper El Nuevo Régimen, which campaigned for Cuban independence; was instrumental in reforming the republican movement with a new manifesto for Partido Federal (Federal Party, 1894). Biography source: [4] |
