Miguel Gerónimo de Esparza

Miguel Gerónimo de Esparza y Rodríguez
Regidor Perpetuo del Cabildo de Buenos Aires
In office
c.1730 – 1766
Monarch Philip V
Preceded by ?
Succeeded by Gregorio Ramos Mexía
Personal details
Born 1679
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died 1767
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality Spanish
Spouse(s) Antonia Cabral de Melo y Morales
Occupation Politician
Profession lawyer
Military service
Allegiance  Spain
Service/branch Spanish Army
Rank Captain

Miguel Gerónimo de Esparza (1679–1767) was a Spanish nobleman, Attorney and Regidor of Buenos Aires during the Viceroyalty of Peru.[1] He also served as acting Mayor of Buenos Aires for several periods.[2]

Personal life

Miguel Gerónimo was born in Buenos Aires and was baptized in the same city on April 23, 1679, son of Alejo de Esparza and Escolástica Rodríguez, the daughter of Alfonso Rodríguez and Ana de la Trinidad Martínez, belonging to a family of settlers of Portuguese and Spanish origin.[3] He was married on July 2, 1706 in the parish of La Merced to Antonia Cabral de Melo, daughter of Antonio Cabral and Leonor de Morales, and great-granddaughter of Amador Vaz de Alpoim and Margarita Cabral de Melo, a noble lady descendant of Nuno Velho Cabral.[4]

Esparza and his wife were parents of several children born between 1707 and 1725, including: Juan Miguel, Juan Pablo, godson of Juan de Zamudio and Maria Josepha, born in 1725, goddaughter of Alonso de Arce (son Alonso de Arce y Soria) and María Báez de Alpoim.[5] His son Juan Miguel de Esparza, was a distinguished government official of the city, where served as regidor and alcalde.[6]

Other members of his family include Joseph de Esparza (his brother), married to María Verdún,[7] relative of Bernardino Verdún de Villayzán.[8] And his sisters María Esparza, wife of Gabriel Ximénez and Inés Esparza, married to Juan de Zenarro, native of Gipuzkoa.[9]

Buenos Aires Cabildo by Alberico Isola

In 1717, Miguel Gerónimo de Esparza attended as a witness in the marriage of his cousin, María Josefa Zenarro Esparza with Pedro Gribeo,[10] (descendant of Domingo Gribeo) who served as Lieutenant governor of Corrientes in 1728.[11]

Career

Esparza probably studied law at the University of Saint Francis Xavier. In 1719, he was a defender of minors and the homeless,[12] and in 1724 had served as a lawyer or adviser.[13] After was appointed perpetual regidor of Buenos Aires, a position he held until 1766.[14]

On August 9, 1731, Esparza was designated as Fiel Ejecutor by the Ayuntamiento of the city, a charge that consisted in the inspection and control of commercial activity in the Río de la Plata.[15]

In 1744, Esparza was in charge of the Padron (census) of the inhabitants of the city.[16] In 1745, he was named Conjuez de Menores (judge of minors), and a year later in 1746, served temporarily as alcalde ordinario of the city of Buenos Aires.[17]

Holding the position of Regidor Perpetuo of the city, Esparza participated of numerous political and economic debates concerning the Río de la Plata and the environs, including problems related to the Real Asiento de Inglaterra,[18] the request of residence of Paul Thompson (father of Martín Jacobo Thompson) of English nation.[19] the question of the incursions of the Pampas in Buenos Aires Province.[20] And matters related to the death of Ferdinand VI, and the assumption of his successor Charles III.[21]

Miguel Gerónimo de Esparza was also dedicated to commerce, he belonged to the select group of neighbors of Basque origin, who had ties to Cadiz.[22] Among these neighbors was Domingo de Basavilbaso, his colleague in the Cabildo, and Alonso García de Zúñiga, belonging to one of the most powerful families of Río de la Plata.[23]

Like many politicians of the time Esparza also dedicated to the military career, in 1747, he served as Captain in The Presidio of Buenos Aires, the main fortification of the city.[24] In 1764 he took oath to his son Juan Miguel de Esparza, who had been elected alcalde of first voto. And two years later (1766) at the age of 87, he was sworn to the alcalde Miguel de la Rocha Rodríguez. That same year, Esparza resigned from the position of Regidor décano of the city of Buenos Aires in favor of Gregorio Ramos Mexía.[25]}

The regidores of Buenos Aires had used costumes of golilla, being supplanted due to its high cost by military apparel.[26]

Miguel Gerónimo de Esparza died on September 10, 1767, receiving the funeral honors on the part of its comrades of the cabildo, including Vicente de Azcuénaga and Manuel de Basavilbaso, alcaldes of first and second voto.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Diccionario biográfico colonial argentino. Institución Mitre.
  2. ↑ Causas instruídas: en Buenos Aires durante los siglos XVII y XVIII. Facultad de derecho y ciencias sociales.
  3. ↑ Los Vascos en América: Provincia de Buenos Aires, 1580-1713 (in Spanish). Fundación Vasco-Argentina Juan de Garay, Departamento Estudios Históricos. 1 January 1991. ISBN 978-987-97556-0-0.
  4. ↑ Revista del Centro de Estudios Genealógicos de Buenos Aires, Volume 1, Part 1. Centro de Estudios Genealógicos de Buenos Aires.
  5. ↑ Bautismos 1713-1727. Family Search.
  6. ↑ Documentos para la historia Argentina (in Spanish). Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. 1914.
  7. ↑ Documentos para la historia Argentina, Volume 10. Argentina.
  8. ↑ La familia porteña en los siglos XVII y XVIII:. Raúl A. Molina.
  9. ↑ Nobiliario del antiguo virreynato del Río de la Plata. Carlos Calvo.
  10. ↑ Matrimonios de la Catedral de Buenos Aires:. Fuentes Históricas y Genealógicas Argentinas.
  11. ↑ Historia de las revoluciones de la provincia del Paraguay (1721-1735) obra inédita. Pedro Lozano, Samuel Alexander Lafone Quevedo, Enrique Peña.
  12. ↑ Vicente Osvaldo Cutolo (1 January 1988). Buenos Aires--historia de las calles y sus nombres (in Spanish). BPR Publishers.
  13. ↑ De la justicia lega a la justicia letrada: abogados y asesores en el Río de la Plata, 1776-1821. María Rosa Pugliese.
  14. ↑ Documentos para la historia del Virreinato del Río de la Plata (in Spanish). Compañia Sud-Americana de Billetes de Banco. 1912.
  15. ↑ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires. República Argentina.
  16. ↑ Documentos para la historia Argentina (in Spanish). Compañía Sud-Americana de Billetes de Banco. 1955.
  17. ↑ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires. Archivo General de la Nacion (Argentina).
  18. ↑ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires. República Argentina.
  19. ↑ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires (1756-1761) (PDF). República Argentina.
  20. ↑ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires (1745-1750) (PDF). República Argentina.
  21. ↑ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires (1756-1761) (PDF). República Argentina.
  22. ↑ Hombres, barcos y comercio de la ruta Cádiz-Buenos Aires, 1737-1757. María Jesús Arazola Corvera.
  23. ↑ La Saga de Los Anchorena. Juan José Sebreli.
  24. ↑ Cuestion de limites inter-provinciales entre Buenos Aires, Cordoba y Santa-Fé. Aristóbulo del Valle.
  25. ↑ Revista patriótica del pasado argentino, Volume 5. Manuel Ricardo Trelles.
  26. ↑ Historia de la ciudad de Buenos Aires ...: 1719-1800. Enrique de Gandía.
  27. ↑ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires (1762-1768) (PDF). Archivo General de la Nación.
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