Antonio Guzmán Blanco

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (April 2014) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 5,024 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Antonio Guzmán Blanco]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Antonio Guzmán Blanco}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Antonio Guzmán Blanco
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 24 July 1867 – 3 October 1867
President	Juan Crisóstomo Falcón
Preceded by	Rafael Seijas
Succeeded by	Rafael Seijas
In office 21 January 1864 – 6 February 1864
President	Juan Crisóstomo Falcón
Preceded by	Guillermo Tell Villegas
Succeeded by	Antonio María Salom
In office 25 July 1863 – 7 August 1863
President	Juan Crisóstomo Falcón
Preceded by	Jesús María Morales Marcano
Succeeded by	Guillermo Tell Villegas
Personal details
Born	(1829-02-28)28 February 1829 Paris, France
Resting place	National Pantheon of Venezuela
Political party	Liberal Party
Spouse	Ana Teresa Ibarra
Signature

Antonio Leocadio Guzmán Blanco (28 February 1829 – 28 July 1899) was a

Guzmán was born in Caracas as the son of Antonio Leocadio Guzmán, a Venezuelan journalist, politician as well as founder of the Liberal Party and Carlota Blanco Jerez de Aristeguieta.^[3]

Career

Military career and ambassador

He was banished by the administration of General

On 7 August,^[citation needed] 1863, Guillermo Tell Villegas was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores)^{[clarification needed][5]} when he temporarily assumed the role of Guzman during Guzman's absence.^[5] Tell Villegas remained the 65th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela until 21 January 1864,^{[citation needed]} when Guzman returned to the role to finish out his term.^{[citation needed]}

Guzman was the Venezuelan ambassador to Spain from 1863 until 1866.^[6]

1868-1877: Return to Venezuela and president

Upon his return he was for a short time in charge of the executive, and afterward was elected president of congress. After the overthrow of Falcón in 1868, Guzmán left the country, but headed a revolution in 1869, and in 1870 became provisional president with extraordinary powers, ruling the country for seven years as a dictator.

In 1871 Blanco created by decree the Territorio Colón (Columbus Territory) which included

The Palacio Federal Legislativo, also known as the Capitolio, is a historic building in Caracas, Venezuela which now houses the National Assembly. It was built in 1872 by Guzman to a design by the architect Luciano Urdaneta Vargas.^[7] In 1876, under Guzmán, the Universidad de Caracas was moved to the Palacio de las Academias building, whose former colonial façade was rebuilt in the Neo-Gothic style.^[8]

1878-1884: Second term as president

His successor, General Francisco Linares Alcántara, died in office in December, 1878, and there were several revolutionary uprisings, till Guzmán assumed the government again.^{[citation needed]}

Free and compulsory education for ages 7 to 14 was established by decree on 27 June 1880, under President Guzmán, and was followed by the creation of the Ministry of Public Instruction in 1881, also under Guzmán Blanco.^[9] In 15 years from 1870, the number of primary schools quadrupled to nearly 2000 and the enrolment of children expanded ten-fold, to nearly 100,000.^[10] Falcón Zulia was a state of Venezuela created by initiative of Guzmán in 1881.^{[citation needed]}

He established the Order of the Liberator on 14 September 1880, which was the highest distinction of Venezuela and was appointed for services to the country, outstanding merit and benefits made to the community.^{[citation needed]} "Gloria al Bravo Pueblo" (Glory to the Brave People) was adopted as Venezuela's national anthem by Guzmán on 25 May 1881.^{[citation needed]}

In the elections of 1883 General Joaquín Crespo, one of his friends, was declared president, and Guzmán became ambassador to France, living with great ostentation in Paris.^{[citation needed]}

1885-1899: Third and final term

In 1886, he again assumed the presidency.^{[citation needed]}

During the rule of Guzmán as governor of a few states (from 1871) in the late 1880s when he was known by the epithet "Illustrious American", Venezuela witnessed all round development (development of Caracas is largely attributed to him) and coffee production in Venezuela increased rapidly as there was an additional support in the form of loans from foreign countries.^[11][12]

According to some historians, Guzmán Blanco led a fairly steady Venezuelan government that was allegedly ripe with corruption.

His successor, the undistinguished Hermógenes López, was also understood to be under his influence.^{[citation needed]}

Politics and legacy

The autocratic nature of Guzmán's regimes was in sharp contradiction with the economic and legal reforms as well as with the achievements brought about. His government was responsible for the creation of the modern currency (

First Lady of Venezuela from 1870 until 1877,^{[citation needed]} 1879 until 1884, and 1887 until 1888. Due to his marriage he was brother in law with María Ibarra Urbaneja, who married Venezuelan banker Manuel Antonio Matos ^{[citation needed]} He is buried in Passy Cemetery in France.

After a hundreds years, his remains now rest at the National Pantheon.^{[citation needed}

Towards the end of the nineteenth century Guzmán built a country house in the region of Antímano, calling it "La Pequeña Versalles" (Little Versailles). Despite being declared a National Monument, the house fell into disuse after Guzman's death and was eventually restored in 2004, the building being turned into a sociocultural complex and sports facility.^[19]

• 
  Ana Teresa Ibarra Urbaneja, Guzman's wife and repeat First Lady of Venezuela
• 
  Guzman with one of his daughters

Gallery

• 
  1872 depiction of Guzman in battle at the Batalla de Apure
• 
  Guzman in 1872
• 
  Antonio Guzmán Blanco by V. Rodríguez, 1908
• 
  Guzman's funeral in 1899

See also

• List of presidents of Venezuela
• History of Roman Catholicism in Venezuela
• List of ministers of foreign affairs of Venezuela
• 1877
• 1887
• List of people on the postage stamps of Venezuela
• List of people from Caracas
• List of Venezuelans
• List of ambassadors of Venezuela to Spain
• List of Freemasons (A–D)

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1891). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Tarver Denova, Hollis Micheal (2005). The history of Venezuela. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 82–.
  ISBN 978-0-313-33525-9
  . Retrieved 12 May 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Antonio Guzmán Blanco.

• Antonio Guzmán Blanco at VenezuelaTuya
• Antonio Guzmán Blanco on Encyclopædia Britannica

Political offices
Preceded by Jesús María Morales Marcano	64th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela 25 July 1863 – 7 August 1863	Succeeded by Guillermo Tell Villegas
Preceded by Guillermo Tell Villegas	66th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela 21 January 1864 – 6 February 1864	Succeeded by Antonio María Salom
Preceded by Rafael Seijas	71st Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela 24 July 1867 – 3 October 1865	Succeeded by Rafael Seijas