José Joaquín Lucio Aurelio Ramón María de Ampuero y del Río (1872–1932) was a Spanish businessman and politician. As member of the Basque industrial and financial oligarchy he held seats in executive bodies of some 30 companies, especially Altos Hornos de Vizcaya and Banco de Bilbao. As politician he supported the Traditionalist cause, first as a Carlist and after 1919 as a breakaway Mellista. In 1901-1913 he served in the Biscay diputación, in 1916–1918 in Congreso de los Diputados, the lower house of the Cortes, and in 1919–1923 in the Senate.
Family and youth
The first known representative of the family was Pedro Ampuero Ajo, who in 1704 integrated numerous possessions in Asturias into one mayorazgo. One branch of the Ampueros settled in Biscay, grew to major landholders in the province and inter-married with other prestigious families like the Urquijos.the great-great-great grandfather of Ampuero y del Río, Pedro Antonio Ventura de Ampuero Salcedo (grandson to Ampuero Ajo), married María Teresa de Urquijo Gutiérrez, Archivo Familiar Ampuero [in:] Archivo de la Fundación Sancho El Sabio, available online here Paternal grandfather of José Joaquín, José Joaquín Ampuero Maguna,the son of Ampuero Salcedo, Pedro Joaquín de Ampuero Urquijo, was the great-great grandfather of José Joaquín; he married María Francisca de Musaurieta Urbina. Their son was the great-grandfather of José Joaquín, Pedro María de Ampuero Musaurieta; he married María Teresa de Maguna and then her sister, Eulalia de Maguna Ampuero. José Joaquín Ampuero Maguna was their son, Archivo Familiar Ampuero [in:] Archivo de la Fundación Sancho El Sabio, available online here settled in Durango and as owner of numerous estatessee e.g. the list of properties in Bilbao, inherited by his son, Ampuero Jaúregui, Expediente personal. Certificación del Registro de la Propiedad de Bilbao, [in:] Senado service, available here served in the Bilbao city council, holding also other county and provincial posts.Calle de la Lotería entry, [in:] Bilbaopedia service, available here. Ampuero Maguna married Genara Jaúregui Elguezabal, Ampuero del Río, José Joaquín. Expediente personal. Partida de Bautismo, [in:] Senado service, available here His son and José Joaquín's father, José María Ampuero Jáuregui (1837-1917),100 años de la muerte de Jose Maria Ampuero ¿Quién fue?, [in:] Gerediaga service 13.03.17, available here inherited most of the wealth. Owner of at least 600 haLuisa Utanda Moreno, Francisco Feo Parrondo, Propiedad rústica en Vizcaya según el Registro de la Propiedad Expropiable (1933), [in:] Lurralde 19 (1996), available online here and devoted to agriculture and horticulture, he published in various periodicals, served as president of Sindicato Agrícola Vizcaíno and Junta Provincial de Agricultura; he was also active supporter of Basque culture, initiating Fiestas Eúskaras and similar festivals. Ampuero Jáuregui engaged in industry, co-founding Ferrocarril Central de BizkaiaAmpuero Jáuregui, José María entry, [in:] Aunamendi Eusko Entziklopedia service, available here and holding stakes in numerous enterprises from mining and metallurgy business. A zealous Carlist, he served as alcalde of Durango, provincial deputy,Rafael Ruzafa Ortega, J. Antonio Pérez, Francisco Javier Montón Martínez, Santiago de la Hoz, Características y evolución de las elites en el País Vaco (1898-1923), [in:] Historia contemporánea 8 (1992), p. 133 Cortes deputy (1881-1884),see the official Congreso de los Diputados service, available here and senator (1907-1911).see the official Senate service, available here
Ampuero Jáuregui married María Milagro del Río Aguerodaughter of Antonio del Rio (from Albalejo) and Soledad de Aguero (from Madrid), Ampuero del Río, José Joaquín. Expediente personal. Partida de Bautismo, [in:] Senado service, available here and settled on the iconic family estate in Durango, known as the Eche Zuria palace.100 años de la muerte de Jose Maria Ampuero ¿Quién fue?, [in:] Gerediaga service 13.03.17, available here The couple had at least 5 children, 3 sonsthe younger brothers of José Joaquín were Antonio (who died in his youth, El Correo Español 08.06.01, available here) and Ramón, who tried his hand in letters, see AbeBooks service, available here and 2 daughters;María de la Soledad married a Carlist politician and senator Manuel Lezama Leguizamón. Maria de la Concepción did not marry and died in 1919, El Correo Español 05.05.19, available here José Joaquín was born as the oldest one. Nothing is known on his early education; during the academic career he pursued two paths, one in law and another in philosophy and letters. According to one source he studied law in Deusto,El Siglo Futuro 08.01.32, available here but another one claims that he obtained his first grades in 1891 in Salamanca.El Fomento 23.06.91, available here He completed his career with doctorado, gained in 1896 in both derecho and filosofía y letras.El Imparcial 30.05.96, available here. His law dissertation, titled Derechos e intervención respectiva que al Estado y a la Iglesia corresponden en la enseñanza pública, was accepted at Universidad Central, Aurora Miguel Alonso (ed.), Doctores en derecho por la Universidad Central. Catálogo de tesis doctorales 1847-1914, Madrid 2018, , p. 396 In the mid-1890s he settled in Madrid and commenced co-operation with the Carlist daily, El Correo Español;in 1898 Ampuero was referred to “compañero en la prensa” and collaborator of El Correo, Noticiero Salmantino 16.05.98, available here it is not clear whether he practiced as a lawyer.in 1894 a “joven abogado” named Ampuero practiced as a lawyer, not only in Madrid but also in Palma de Mallorca, El Isleño 12.04.94, available here. In the early 1900s Ampuero was officially listed as “abogado”, Insitutciones y Dependencias del Estado 1904, available here At the turn of the centuries he returned to Biscay.exact date of Ampuero's return to Durango is not clear; as late as 1897 he was still related to the Madrid El Correo Español, but in 1901 he was already elected from Durango to the provincial diputación
In 1903Heraldo Alaves 21.07.03, available here Ampuero married Casilda Gandarias Durañona (1872-1968),Casilda Gandarias Durañona entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here descendant to a powerful Basque industrialist family related to numerous mining and metallurgy enterprises.she was daughter to Pedro Pascual Gandarias and sister to Juan Tomás de Gandarias y Durañona, one of the founders of Altos Hornos de Vizcaya The couple first settled at the Durango Eche Zuria estate, but later they purchased and re-modeled a grandiose residential estate in Getxo, to be known as Palacio Ampuero.Palacio Ampuero entry, [in:] Patrimonio Cultural Ondarea service, available here They had 3 children, born between 1906 and 1912; the best known was Casilda Ampuero Gandarias, the active Carlist herself who married general José Varela;Archivo Familiar Ampuero [in:] Archivo de la Fundación Sancho El Sabio, available online here José MaríaJosé María Ampuero Gandarias entry, [in:] Geni service, available here and PedroPedro de Ampuero y Gandarias entry, [in:] Geneallnet service, available here did not engage in politics and dedicated themselves to business, holding high executive posts in various companies.Entrevista a Casilda Varela Ampuero, [in:] Haqq blog 23.07.18 (Jotaelehaqq blog blocked by Wikipedia) This was the case also of many Ampuero's grandchildren from the Varela Ampuero, Ampuero Urruela and Ampuero Osma families,one of the highest positioned representatives of the family is José Domingo de Ampuero y Osma, in the 1990s vicepresident of Iberdrola and Banco de Bilbao, Ampuero Osma, José Domingo entry, [in:] Aunamendi Eusko Entziklopedia service, available here though the best known one, Casilda Varela Ampuero, became sort of a media celebrity having married the world-famous guitar virtuoso, Paco de Lucia.Yolanda Ruiz, La familia de Paco de Lucía: «Llevamos a Durango en el corazón», [in:] El Correo 27.05.17, available here Also great-grandchildren form part of the Ampuero business dynasty and as such are present in the gossip media; this is the case e.g. of Joaquín Güell Ampuero.high executive of numerous companies, he became the target of gossip media also due to his marriage with a politician Cayetana Alvarez de Tolado, Vera Bercovitz, Lo más catalan de Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo, [in:] Vanity Fair 16.04.19, available here
Business oligarch
Ampuero del Rio was born to a family of economic tycoons; though for decades its wealth was related to exploitation of the mountains with their chestnut and oak trees, agriculture, the leases of farmhouses, mills or ironworks, and interests produced by possessions, in the mid-19th century the Ampueros engaged in the Biscay mining revolution and re-oriented the fortune towards industry.apart from the Etxe Zuri house in Durango, the Ampueros owned the Larracoechea farmhouses in Begońa, Bitańo and Beascoechea in Izurtza and Arandia-Iturrioz in Iurreta, several houses in the Calle del Correo, Carnicería Vieja, Astarloa, Gran Vía and Plaza Nueva in Bilbao and the Arandia and Arana ironworks in Durango, Murueta in Abadińo and Orobio in Erdikolea, Archivo Familiar Ampuero [in:] Archivo de la Fundación Sancho El Sabio, available online here José Joaquín started to replace his father in executive boards of various companies in the mid-1900s;e.g. in 1906 Ampuero entered the management board of Compañía de los Ferrocarriles Vascongados, Gaceta de los Caminos del Hierro 16.11.06, available here at the same time he was setting up own enterprises,e.g. the insurance company La Polar, which he presided since 1906, El Financiero Hispano-Americano 19.10.06, available here represented Biscay diputación in firms controlled by the provincial self-government,this was the case of Ferrocarril de Triano, Anuario-Riera 1908, available here and got engaged in businesses of his in-laws, the Gandarias Durañona family. In the late 1910s and especially in the 1920s he emerged as one of key members of the Biscay industrial and financial strata, having been member of executive councils of at least 30 companies;one scholar arrived at a total of 21 management boards that Ampuero formed part of, Pedro Chalmeta Gendrón, Cultura y culturas en la historia, Salamanca 1995, , p. 156; another list, with 18 companies named, in Rafael Ruzafa Ortega, J. Antonio Pérez, Francisco Javier Montón Martínez, Santiago de la Hoz, Características y evolución de las elites en el País Vaco (1898-1923), [in:] Historia contemporánea 8 (1992), p. 140 by means of his family connections and business links he was positioned at intersection of various industries.detailed review of personal interconnections, represented by Ampuero, in Olga Macías, Los inversos ferroviarios vizcaínos y su presencia en los negocios mineros españoles (1922), [in:] AEHE 10 (2005), available here