José Olaguer Feliú

José Olaguer Feliú y Ramírez

Spanish Minister of War
In office
8 March 1922 – 15 July 1922
Monarch Alfonso XIII
Preceded by Juan de la Cierva y Peñafiel
Succeeded by José Sánchez-Guerra y Martínez
Personal details
Born (1857-10-25)October 25, 1857
Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died November 21, 1929(1929-11-21) (aged 72)
Madrid, Spain
Nationality Spanish
Spouse(s) Josefina García
Awards Cross of Maria Christina
Grand Cross of the Military Merit
Cross of Charles III
Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand
Gran Cross of San Hermenegildo
Military service
Years of service 1876-1927
Rank Lieutenant General
Commands Captain General of Catalonia
Battles/wars Philippine Revolution

José Olaguer Feliú y Ramírez (October 25, 1857 – November 21, 1929) was a Spanish lieutenant general, Minister of War and politician.

Biography

Prime Minister Sánchez Guerra (left) with Gen. José Olaguer Feliú (right), appointed as the new Spanish Minister of War in March 1922.

He was born on October 25, 1857 in Manila, but both parents were Spanish of Catalan origin. In 1876 he entered the Academy of the General Staff.

In 1882 he was promoted to lieutenant and served in different places in Spain.

In 1890 he went to the Philippines with the rank of commandant. He was director of the School of Arts and Crafts in Manila.

He took an active part in numerous military operations in the Philippines Campaign. He participated in the Battle of Kakarong de Sili in the island of Luzon on January 1, 1897, where the Commandant Olaguer Feliu achieved victory with only 600 men over 6.000 braves katipuneros and as a result he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was awarded the prestigious Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand.

Then he was Chief of Staff of the Commander of Luzon.

A year later he was promoted to the rank of colonel as a reward for his performance in operations in the province of Zambales.

Declared war with the United States, remained in Manila where he provided invaluable services during the siege and blockade during the Battle of Manila. As Deputy Chief of Staff of the Captaincy General of Manila, was one of the military leaders that took part in the surrender of the city.

In 1898 he returned to the mainland with the rank of Colonel and in 1902 was appointed as chief of staff of the Captaincy General of Galicia.

In 1910 he was promoted to the rank of Brigade General and was appointed as chief of staff of the Second Region, a position he held until 1915. Then he was promoted to divisional general and given command of the Second Division.

In 1912 he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit.

In 1916 he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegildo.

In 1917 he was appointed military governor of Cádiz, being the same year under the command of the Ninth Division.

In 1918 he was received as academic member of the Royal Hispanic-American Academy of Cadiz.

In 1921 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and assumed the command of the Captaincy General of Catalonia until 1922, where he was replaced by Lieutenant General Miguel Primo de Rivera, 2nd Marquis of Estella

In March 1922, Lieutenant General Jose Olaguer Feliú was appointed Minister of War by José Sánchez Guerra, Prime Minister of Spain.

Olaguer Feliú occupied the ministry of war, in one of the most difficult and turbulent times in both the military and political order: first the Moroccan campaign exacerbated by the hesitation of the government, after the events of the Disaster of Annual, in July 1921 and on the other hand the actions of the military defenses boards. All of these in the middle of press and parliamentary debate about the report known as the Expediente Picasso. He resigned in July 1922.

Then he was appointed captain general of the Fifth Region of Aragon.

In August 1923 Olaguer Feliú became director general of Carabineros of Spain, where he improved the living painful and modest of the carabineros, reducing their service to twelve hours. He managed the expansion and improvement of the Colleges of the Carabineros. Also he took care of the repair and in other cases the construction of new barrack houses, creating in some cases, schools for the children of Carabineros, despite crossing the carabineros, as the rest of the Army Corps, by budgetary constraints imposed by the Government. He increased the number of days and seats in the Alfonso XIII Orphans College of El Escorial and tripled the orphan students in the Pastoras Sisters College of Madrid.

In 1924 he was awarded the Grand Cross of Christ by the government of Portugal.

On 14 December 1925 he was appointed member of the Army Review Board for Generals, Colonels (Junta Classificadora de Ascensos de Generales, Coroneles y asimilados del Ejército in Spanish).

In 1927 Olaguer Feliú was elected as State Representative and as Representative of National Life Activities, for the National Consultative Assembly, exercising until 1928.

In 1927 by order of His Majesty the King, Lieutenant General José Olaguer Feliú ceased as Director General of Carabineros and passed into the first reserve.

On November 21, 1929 he died in Madrid.

References

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