Luis Muñoz de Guzmán

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Luis Muñoz de Guzmán

Luis Muñoz de Guzmán (* 1735 in Seville , Spain , † February 1808 in Santiago de Chile ) was a Spanish officer and from 1802 to 1808 governor of the general captainate of Chile .

Life

He was married to Luisa Esterripa.

Career in the Spanish fleet

Muñoz pursued an officer career in the Spanish Navy. Under the reign of King Charles III. he took part in battles off Morocco in 1774 and was on the Spanish side in the fighting against the Portuguese in Brazil in 1777 . He reached the rank of sea captain in 1779 and fought in the fighting against the English in the failed attempt to recapture Gibraltar for Spain. In 1789 he was promoted to command of the fleet.

Career in colonial administration

In 1791 King Charles IV appointed him the highest colonial administrator of the province of Quito - in the form of the chairmanship of the Real Audiencia de Quito . He held this office until 1796. After his resignation he lived in Lima in Peru . In 1801, at the age of 66, he was appointed governor of Chile.

Government as governor in Chile

activities

In 1802 he took office as governor. Muñoz de Guzmán took some measures to improve the infrastructure of backward Chile.

Under Muñoz's government, the streets of Santiago were paved and he had some structures completed that his predecessors had begun, including the La Moneda Mint (now the Presidential Palace of Chile), the Palace of the Real Audiencia (now the National Historical Museum of Santiago) and the cajas reales . He also campaigned for the introduction of the smallpox vaccination .

Actions not completed

He also began to implement long-cherished plans to build a canal for the water supply from the Río Maipo to Santiago, but could not complete the construction for lack of money. It was not until 1820 that the canal would finally be inaugurated as Canal San Carlos (construction continued until 1825).

Government style

Muñoz de Guzmán was respected and loved by the people. His wife Luisa Estrerripa had been the queen's maid in Spain . She founded the first salon in the French style, she shaped the fashion of the time and was considered a sponsor of theater performances and concerts. Her husband was also interested in culture: at the suggestion of the governor, a literary society was founded.

The couple took an active part in social life. The Guzmans also established the custom of summer vacation by the sea for the high society of Santiago.

Luis Muñoz de Guzmán died in February 1808 at the age of 73 in Santiago de Chile. His successor was initially the chairman of the Real Audiencia , Juan Rodríguez Ballesteros , who handed it over to the highest-ranking officer, Francisco Antonio García Carrasco , in April .