Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga

Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga (* 1715 ; † August 24, 1768 in Santiago de Chile ) was a Spanish officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of Panama and Chile .

Life

Guill came from an Italian noble family and initially made a career in the army, reaching the rank of colonel of the infantry in Guadalajara . From 1758 to 1761 he ruled as governor of Panamá .

From October 3, 1762 to January 17, 1768 he served in the rank of brigadier as governor of Chile. At the beginning of his tenure, Spain was at war with England and Guill set about fortifying the port of Valparaíso . In 1763 he reported the development of sulfur mines near Coquimbo to the king .

In 1764 Guill called the parliament of Nacimiento with the Mapuche , whom he wanted to settle in the cities. This led to the continuing turmoil among the indigenous population, which was only settled in 1774 under his successor Agustín de Jáuregui .

Talcahuano became an official port under his government. He also had new settlements built from 1765, including Rere , Yumbel and Tucapel el Nuevo ; on Chiloé he had the settlements of San Carlos de Chonchi (1767) and San Carlos de Ancud (1768) founded.

The first vaccinations against smallpox were also given during his tenure .

Remarkably, there is not a single letter from him in the archives concerning the expulsion of the Jesuits , which fell under his term of office ( abolition of the Jesuit order ). King Charles III had ordered the expulsion in February 1767. In Chile, it had consequences above all in the education system: the Jesuit Convictorio Francisco Javier was dissolved. The dissolution of the Jesuit institutions took place on August 26, 1767 and triggered a serious crisis in the deeply religious Guill, which led to his abdication in January 1768. He died a few months later.

Web links

• Biography (spanish)
• José Toribio Medina: Diccionario Biográfico Colonial de Chile (Spanish) (PDF file; 107.86 MB), p. 383 f.