Francisco Romá y Rosell

Francisco Romá y Rosell (* around 1710 in Mataró near Barcelona , Spain , † 1784 in Mexico City ) was a Spanish economist , lawyer and colonial administrator who temporarily held the office of Viceroy of New Spain in 1779 as regent of the Real Audiencia of Mexico .

Scientific career

Francisco Romá initially worked as a lawyer in Barcelona. At the same time he was a member of the Royal Academy for Experimental Physics and Agriculture (Spanish Real Academia de Física Experimental y Agricultura ) of Barcelona. In 1766 he published a political-economic work on the use of committees for public order and the economic performance of his hometown ( Disertación histórico-político-legal para los Colegios y Gremios de la Ciudad de Barcelona ). In 1768 a more fundamental work followed, in which he propagated agriculture, industry and trade as a means against the decadence of his time ( Las señales de la felicidad en España y medio de hacerlas eficaces ).

Civil service

In 1768 he received the post of Alcalde de la Sala de Hijosdalgo at the Real Audiencia , the court of justice, of Valladolid and had to deal there with legal disputes resulting from nobility rights. In 1771 he moved to the field of criminal law, and in 1775 he was appointed oidor .

In 1776 he was transferred to the Real Audiencia of Mexico. Here, too, he was not only active in legal matters, but also dealt with economic issues. As regent he presided over the Audiencia. When Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa died in office in April 1779 , Romá took over the affairs of state until the new Viceroy Martín de Mayorga arrived in the colony in August .

Twelve days before he could hand over the office to the new viceroy, orders from Spain arrived in Mexico City to declare a state of war with England and to arm the colony in a suitable manner. With the takeover of government by the new viceroy, Romá again limited himself to his work as chairman of the Audiencia.

In 1782 he was replaced in office. He died in 1784.

literature

• Juana Vázquez Gómez: Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325–1997 . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT 1997, ISBN 0-313-30049-6 , pp. 44 ( Google Books [accessed July 1, 2015]).
• Teresa Sanciñena Asurmendi: La Audiencia en México en el Reinado de Carlos III . Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 1999, ISBN 968-36-7006-7 , pp. 121–125 ( biblio.juridicas.unam.mx [accessed July 29, 2015]).

Web links

• Biography (spanish)

predecessor	Office	successor
Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa	Viceroy of New Spain 1779	Martin de Mayorga