José María Esquerdo Zaragoza (2February 184230January 1912) was a Spanish

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

, physician, and Republican politician. He was the leader of the Progressive Republican Party from 1895 until his death in 1912. He is noted as a pioneer in the introduction of modern psychiatric treatments in Spain.

Biography

José María Esquerdo Zaragoza was born in Villajoyosa, Alicante on 2 February 1842. He was the son of farm workers. He completed his medical training at the San Carlos Hospital of Madrid, though it is unclear whether he began his education there or at the University of Valencia. After completing his studies, he relocated to Talavera de la Reina. Following the 1868 Glorious Revolution, he became the chair of

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

and director of the clinic of mental diseases at the General Hospital of Madrid. In 1872, Esquerdo volunteered to treat those wounded during the

Third Carlist War The Third Carlist War ( es, Tercera Guerra Carlista) (1872–1876) was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relatively trivial ...

. In May 1877, he founded a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

Carabanchel Carabanchel is a district of Madrid, Spain. It lies on the southern (right) bank of the Manzanares, spanning southward down to the M-40 ring road. The district is made up of the neighbourhoods of Abrantes, Comillas, Opañel, Puerta Bonita, San ...

. Esquerdo unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

in the February 1891 general election, the first one since the restoration of universal male suffrage in Spain. Splitting the vote with a fellow

Progressive Republican The Republican Party in the United States includes several factions, or wings. During the 19th century, Republican factions included the Half-Breeds, who supported civil service reform; the Radical Republicans, who advocated the immediate and to ...

, Esquerdo's bid was ultimately unsuccessful. However, he shortly after won a seat as a Madrid municipal councillor during the May municipal election, representing the district of Hospital. Esquerdo ran again as a candidate for Madrid to the Congress of Deputies as part of a joint Republican ticket named "Unión Republicana" at the 1893 general election. This time, he won the seat with a plurality of the vote. Following the death of Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla in 1895, Esquerdo became the leader of the Progressive Republican Party. His leadership in the party, however, was not accepted by those represented by , founder of (an important party newspaper). The party thus lost the newspaper's support and was forced to replace it with the newly-created ''El Progreso'' in 1897, edited by Alejandro Lerroux. Esquerdo vied as the

Republican–Socialist Conjunction The Republican–Socialist Conjunction ( es, Conjunción Republicano–Socialista, CRS) was a Spanish electoral coalition created in 1909 and lasting until 1919. It comprised different parties during its short lifespan, but it always included the S ...

(CRS) candidate for Madrid at the 1910 general election and again earned a seat at the Congress of Deputies. He received 41,939 votes and ranked as the second-most voted candidate in the capital, after his fellow Republican

Benito Pérez Galdós Benito Pérez Galdós (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920) was a Spanish Spanish Realist literature, realist novelist. He was the leading literary figure in 19th-century Spain, and some scholars consider him second only to Miguel de Cervantes ...

. He participated in the Central Committee of the CRS meetings, where he grew closer to the faction favoring collaboration with the government, which was represented by Melquíades Álvarez and

Gumersindo de Azcárate Gumersindo de Azcárate (1840, León - 1917, Madrid) was a Spanish philosopher, jurist and politician. Biography After law studies in Oviedo, he taught comparative law in Madrid since 1864 and represented León in the Cortes. In the 1870s, he jo ...

. He died on 30 January 1930 in his Madrid home. The Progressive Republican Party was dissolved soon after his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esquerdo, Jose Maria Madrid city councillors Spanish republicans Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish Restoration Spanish psychiatrists