Francisco Javier de Burgos, de Florentino De Craene (recorte)

Francisco Javier de Burgos y del Olmo (22 October 1778—22 January 1848) was a Spanish jurist, politician, journalist, and translator.

Early life and career

Born in Motril, into a noble but poor family, he was destined for a career in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, but soon abandoned his studies in Granada and left for Madrid - where he took law courses. When the French invaded under

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, at the start of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

(1808-1814), Burgos, as one of the ''

afrancesado ''Afrancesado'' (, ; " Francophile" or "turned-French", lit. "Frenchified" or "French-alike") refers to the Spanish and Portuguese partisan of Enlightenment ideas, Liberalism or the French Revolution. In principle, ''afrancesados'' were upper- ...

s'' (supporters of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 * Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) *Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

), took up administrative duties in

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

. His willingness to collaborate had made him an enemy of the House of Bourbon, and made him leave for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1812. In France, Burgos completed his academic training by studying the works of the Classics, and started translating the works of Horace into Castilian (a version notably analysed by

Andrés Bello Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López (; November 29, 1781 – October 15, 1865) was a Venezuelan- Chilean humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, philosopher, educator and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute an ...

, who deemed Burgos "a poor translator, but an excellent commentator"). Much later (1844), Burgos published a revised version, which, although still flawed, has remained a reference - for instance, it is appreciated for its use of the

sapphic stanza The Sapphic stanza, named after Sappho, is an Aeolic verse form of four lines. Originally composed in quantitative verse and unrhymed, since the Middle Ages imitations of the form typically feature rhyme and accentual prosody. It is "the longes ...

with

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Defi ...

Prominence

He returned to Madrid in 1819, and was appointed editor of '' El Imparcial'' in 1822 (the paper was a rallying point for moderate

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

and the ''afrancesados''). During the same period, Burgos showed himself to be a prolific author, writing a publishing a multiple volume work entitled ''Biografía universal''. He was also integrated in the Bourbon administration of Ferdinand VII, being appointed undersecretary of State in Francisco Cea Bermúdez's Ministry. Under the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of Maria Christina, as the driving force behind the 1833 territorial division of Spain, Burgos used his influence to turn Spain's previous administrative system into a provincial one, advocating for the need of a

centralized government A centralized government (also united government) is one in which both executive and legislative power is concentrated centrally at the higher level as opposed to it being more distributed at various lower level governments. In a national contex ...

. However, his design overtly conflicted with the self-government status held by the Basque districts, especially with Navarre, heavily conditioned but still a free-standing Kingdom. The move was approved in November–December 1833, the same year he became

Home Minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

. He was a senator of the ''Moderado'' liberals regime established during the

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of Isabella II, as well as a royal counsellor and Interior Minister for the first

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

Ramón María Narváez y Campos, Duke of Valencia Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramon (footballer, born 1998), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (singer), Spanish singer who represented Spain in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest ...

. His office as Minister was taken over by Narváez's successor, Francisco Javier Istúriz. He died in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

. He also wrote poems marking events such as the death of María Isabel de Braganza and the wedding of Ferdinand VII and Maria Christina, as well as the notable ''Oda a la Razón''.

Bibliography

* ''Biografía universal'' (3 parts, 1823) * ''Los tres iguales'' (1827) * ''El baile de máscaras'' (1832) * ''Oda á la razón'' * ''El porvenir'' * ''La primavera'' * ''Historia del reinado de Isabel II'' (6 parts, 1850–51)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgos, Javier De 1778 births 1849 deaths People from Motril 19th-century Spanish historians Spanish journalists Spanish untitled nobility Spanish poets Afrancesados Spanish translators Members of the Royal Spanish Academy 19th-century Spanish writers Economy and finance ministers of Spain Government ministers of Spain Spanish male poets 19th-century male writers 19th-century translators