Juan Bravo Murillo (24 June 1803 – 11 February 1873) was a Spanish politician and lawyer. During the reign of Isabella II, he served as prime minister of Spain from 1851 to 1852 and several times as Crown minister, among other political positions.

Origins Bravo Murillo was born in Fregenal de la SierraRelación histórica de Presidentes del Consejo de Ministros y del Gobierno 1846-1853 , la-moncloa.es, official site of the Spanish Presidency. Retrieved 2010-02-27. on 24 June 1803. After briefly studying theology,Bravo-Murillo, Meyers Konversationslexikon (1888). Online at retrobibliothek.de. Retrieved 2010-02-28. he studied law at the University of Salamanca and the University of Seville, obtaining his licentiate from Seville in 1825. He practiced law for a time in Seville. After the death of Fernando VII in 1833 he was named prosecutor of the Audiencia Provincial of Cádiz, a position he held for two years before moving to Madrid, where he co-published a journal called Boletín de Jurisprudencia. He was also a founder of the conservative newspaper El Porvenir.

Political career He was elected a deputy (member of the lower house of Spain's parliament) in 1837 and 1840 as a member of the Moderate Party. However, his reactionary views kept him out of leadership during the decidedly liberal ascendancy of General Baldomero Espartero, regent during this portion of the minority of Isabella II. He emigrated briefly to France after the Spanish Revolution of 1841, but returned in 1843 after Espartero's fall, the beginning of the década moderada.Germán Rueda, La década moderada (España) , artehistoria.jcyl.es. Retrieved 2010-02-28.

In January 1847 he was named Minister of Grace and Justice in the government of Carlos Martínez de Irujo, Duke of Sotomayor. General Ramón María Narváez later named him Minister of Commerce, Instruction, and Public Works, then in 1849 Minister of Finance. He was named President of the Council of Ministers of Spain, effectively prime minister, taking office on 14 January 1851, while serving as his own Minister of Finance. The events of the Revolutions of 1848 throughout Europe led him to propose an anti-parliamentarian, absolutist constitution for Spain in 1852, countering the moderate liberal tendency of the Spanish Constitution of 1845, but it proved unpopular and was rejected. He lost his position as head of government 14 December 1852; the onset of the bienio progresista some 18 months later led him to leave Spain, returning in 1856. He served as President of the Congress of Deputies in 1858,Bravo Murillo, Juan, www.congreso.es, in the database of Presidents of the Congress on the official site of the Spanish Congress of Deputies. Retrieved online 2010-02-28. and was named to the Spanish Senate in 1863 as a senator for life.Expediente personal del Senador vitalicio D. Juan Bravo Murillo , www.senado.es (official site of the Spanish Senate). Retrieved 2010-02-28.

He is responsible for founding Canal de Isabel II, the public company that still brings water to Madrid,Madrid - Canal de Isabel II (CYII) , MONSACRO.net Revista sobre Patrimonio y Arqueología Industrial. Divulgación tecnológica, 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2010-02-28. the establishment of civil service exams (oposiciones),Juan Bravo Murillo , artehistoria.jcyl.es. Retrieved 2010-02-28. the introduction of the metric system into Spain in 1849,Gustavo Puente Feliz, El Sistema Métrico Decimal. Su importancia e implantación en España , Cuadernos de historia moderna y contemporánea, ISSN 0211-0849, Nº. 3, 1982, 95:126. p. 109 (15 of PDF). Retrieved 2010-02-28. the Concordat of 1851 that settled differences between the Spanish government and the Holy See, and the 1852 Canaries Free Ports Act.Fernando De Ory Ajamil, Ciencia y presencia extranjera en las Islas Canarias (de la Ilustración a la primera guerra mundial), thesis for Department of History, University of La Laguna. p. 252 (241 of PDF). Retrieved 2010-02-28. He was also responsible for a variety of measures in his capacity as minister of finance, and founded what later became the Boletín Oficial del Estado, which remains the Spanish government's official gazette to this day.

The most interesting of his writings were published in six volumes entitled Opúsculos ("Pamphlets", 1863–1874). He died in Madrid on 11 February 1873.

Elections to Congress of Deputies Bravo Murillo was elected to the Congress of Deputies on 12 occasions, and represented constituencies in five different provinces (sometimes two of them at the same time):

Election number Election date District Province Took office Left office0922 September 1837At largeSeville19 December 18371 June 18391119 January 1840At largeÁvila21 February 184011 October 18401415 September 1843At largeBadajoz18 October 184310 July 1844153 September 1844At largeBadajoz14 October 184431 October 18461621 June 1846Fregenal de la SierraBadajoz3 January 184718 December 18481621 June 1846Fregenal de la SierraBadajoz20 December 18474 August 18501731 August 1850Fregenal de la SierraBadajoz6 November 18507 April 18511731 August 1850HuelvaHuelva6 November 185015 November 18501810 May 1851Elche de la SierraAlbacete4 June 185117 June 18511810 May 1851Fregenal de la SierraBadajoz4 June 18512 December 1852194 February 1853Fregenal de la SierraBadajoz15 March 185310 December 18532125 February 1857Fregenal de la SierraBadajoz6 May 185713 May 1858 Source:Bravo Murillo, Juan and linked records, in the database of Deputies on the official site of the Spanish Congress of Deputies. Retrieved online 2010-02-28.

Ministers in his governments

First ministry President: Juan Bravo Murillo State: Manuel Bertrán de Lis y Ribes Finance: Juan Bravo Murillo Grace and Justice: Ventura González Romero Governance: Fermín Arteta War: Rafael de Arístegui (Count of Mirasol) Marine: José María Bustillo (Count of Bustillo) Development: Santiago Fernández Negrete Source:Governs d' Isabel II. Dècada Moderada, Base documental d'Història Contemporània de Catalunya, xtec.es. Retrieved 2010-02-28. Los Gobiernos del Reino de España 1833 - 1868 , www.elisanet.fi/daglarsson generally confirms this and adds some information (e.g. it gives precise dates, and adds minister of Commerce, Instruction and Public Works) but seems to be a personal site privately maintained by an individual; it has not been used here as a source.

Second (reorganized) ministry President: Juan Bravo Murillo State: Manuel Pando Fernández de Pineda (Marquis of Miraflores); later Manuel Bertrán de Lis Ribes returned to the position. Finance: Juan Bravo Murillo Grace and Justice: Ventura González Romero Governance: Manuel Bertrán de Lis Ribes, later Melchor Ordóñez and Cristóbal Bordíu War: Francisco Alejandro Lersundi y Ormaechea, later Cayetano Urbina y Daoiz Marine: Francisco Armero de Peñaranda (Marquess of Nervión), later Joaquín Ezpeleta y Enrile Development: Fermín Arteta, later Mariano Miguel Reinoso Source:

Notes