Francisco de la Lastra

Francisco de Lastra

Francisco de la Lastra y Sotta (born October 4, 1777 in Santiago de Chile , † May 13, 1852 ibid) was a Chilean politician . In 1814, during the Chilean War of Independence, he ruled the country for a short time as Director Supremo .

Lastra grew up in Santiago and was by his parents in 1793 after Spain sent to there a career as a Marine - officer to begin. After completing his training, he returned to Chile in 1803 in the service of the Royal Spanish Fleet and served there for the next three years.

When the Chileans rose against the new Spanish government set up by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1810 , Lastra joined the ranks of the Chilean revolutionary army. On March 14, 1814, the Chilean independence movement proclaimed him head of state, Director Supremo . Soon after, on July 23, 1814, the sixth junta took power, consisting of José Miguel Carrera , Julián Uribe and Manuel Muñoz Urzúa .

When the Chilean insurgents under Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins in the first two days of October 1814 in the Battle of Rancagua were defeated by the Spaniards, put the Spanish reconquest ( reconquista ) of a rebellious Chile. Like many other revolutionaries, Lastra was captured and exiled to the Juan Fernández Islands .

After the Chilean victory in 1817, the rebels returned to the mainland. Lastra initially served in the army again , later he served as governor of Valparaíso and later as mayor ( intendente ) of his hometown Santiago.

In 1823, the director, Supremo Ramón Freire y Serrano , appointed him to the Council of State and at times to his deputy. In 1826 Francisco de la Lastra was promoted to Brigadier General and in 1829 to General Inspector of the Army. During the civil war between liberal federalists and conservative centralists, he also held the office of minister of war and navy for a short time. He supported the liberal cause in the Conservative Revolution in 1829 and defended the seat of government against the troops of José Joaquín Prieto Vial , albeit in vain.

After the Conservative victory, Lastra withdrew into private life. In 1843, when President Manuel Bulnes Prieto tried to reconcile the once hostile camps, Lastra was brought back into public life. He received a seat at the Chilean court martial and was elected to the House of Representatives as a representative of the Lautaro constituency. In 1844 he was elected Vice President of the House of Representatives. He died in May 1852 at the age of 74.

Sources and web links

Commons : Francisco de la Lastra  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography on the Chilean Library of Congress website (Spanish)
• Diego Barros Arana : Historia General de Chile . tape 8 . Rafael Jover, Santiago de Chile, p. 215–382 (Spanish, ( page no longer available , search in web archives: memoriachilena.cl ) [accessed on March 6, 2011] first edition: 1887).