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The Most Excellent
Marcelo Azcárraga
The Most Excellent Marcelo Azcárraga
	Photograph by Kaulak
Prime Minister of Spain
	In office; 16 December 1904 – 25 January 1905
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Preceded by	Antonio Maura
Succeeded by	Raimundo Fernández
	In office; 23 October 1900 – 6 March 1901
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Preceded by	Francisco Silvela
Succeeded by	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
	In office; 21 August 1897 – 4 October 1897
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Preceded by	Himself (as interim)
Succeeded by	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
	Interim
	In office; 8 August – 21 August 1897
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Preceded by	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Succeeded by	Himself
President of the Senate of Spain
	In office; 18 October – 8 November 1900
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Preceded by	Arsenio Martínez Campos
Succeeded by	Count of Tejada de Baldosera
	In office; 15 May 1903 – 16 December 1904
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Preceded by	Eugenio Montero Ríos
Succeeded by	Marquess of Pidal
	In office; 10 May 1907 – 14 April 1910
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Preceded by	Eugenio Montero Ríos
Succeeded by	Eugenio Montero Ríos
	In office; 8 November 1913 – 30 May 1915
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Preceded by	Eugenio Montero Ríos
Succeeded by	Joaquín Sánchez de Toca
Minister of the Navy of Spain
	Interim
	In office; 23 October 1900 – 31 October 1900
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Francisco Silvela
Succeeded by	José Ramos Izquierdo
	In office; 16 December 1904 – 6 January 1905
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	José Ferrándiz y Niño
Succeeded by	Eduardo Cobián
Minister of War of Spain
	In office; 5 July 1890 – 11 December 1892
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Prime Minister	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Preceded by	Eduardo Bermúdez Reina
Succeeded by	José López Domínguez
	In office; 23 March 1895 – 4 October 1897
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Prime Minister	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo ; Himself
Preceded by	José López Domínguez
Succeeded by	Miguel Correa y García
	In office; 2 October 1899 – 18 October 1900
Monarch	Alfonso XIII
Prime Minister	Himself ; Práxedes Mateo Sagasta ; Francisco Silvela
Preceded by	Camilo García de Polavieja
Succeeded by	Arsenio Linares y Pombo
Personal details
Born	Marcelo de Azcárraga Palmero; 4 September 1832; Intramuros, Manila, Spanish Philippines
Died	30 May 1915 (aged 82); Madrid, Spain
Political party	Liberal-Conservative Party
Alma mater	University of Santo Tomas ; Letran

Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero (4 September 1832 – 30 May 1915) was a Spanish soldier-politician and Prime Minister of Spain following the restoration of the Spanish monarchy. He served as Prime Minister in 1897, 1900–1901, and 1904–1905.^[1] Azcárraga was the only Spanish Prime Minister of part Insulares, specifically Spanish Filipino, descent.^[2]

Early life

Azcárraga was born in 1832, in Manila in the Spanish East Indies, to General José de Azcárraga y Ugarte, a native of Vizcaya, Spain, a bookshop owner in Escolta, Manila, and to María Palmero y Verzosa de Lizárraga, from Albay.^[3]

Education

General José Azcárraga had many sons and daughters. Azcárraga was the second of the family's children. He studied law in the Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manila then entered the Nautical School or Escuela Náutica de Manila (today, the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy) where he was awarded the first prize in mathematics.^[4]

Military service

He was sent to Spain by his father to enter the military academy and soon earned the rank of captain in three years. Due to his services against the O'Donnell revolution in Spain, he was promoted to major.

Military awards

At the age of 23, he was awarded Spain's highest military award for gallantry the Cross of San Fernando, which is a pension grant.

Colonial service

He was sent to various colonies of Spain, including New Spain, the Captaincy General of Cuba, and the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo.

Marriage

Afterward, he returned to Cuba and married one of the daughters of the wealthy Fesser family, owner and founder of Banco y Casa de Seguros Fesser, one of the biggest banks of Cuba, who allegedly gave him £20,000 on the day of his marriage.^[4] He was the husband of Margarita Fesser Diago, a daughter of Edward also known as Don Eduardo Fesser y Kirchnair of the United States and Micaela Diago Tato of Havana. They owned the Almacenes de Regla (Regla Warehouse) and Banco de Comercio and all the rail lines between Regla and Matanzas, then known as the Ferrocaril de la Bahia de la Habana. Almacenes de Regla, founded in 1843 with initial capital of 150,000 Cuban pesos, was so large that it stored half of all of Cuba's sugar production, and by 1853, had increased its original capital tenfold.

His children were Carlos de Azcárraga Fesser; Margarita de Azcárraga Fesser de Trenor Palavicino, the first marquesa of Turia; María de Azcárraga Fesser; the Spanish politician and military statesman José María de Azcarraga Fesser, and María del Carmen de Azcarraga Fesser. His direct descendant includes Don Tomas Trenor Puig of Valencia and Madrid, the fourth Marquis of Turia.

Years as Prime Minister

In 1868, on the deposition of Queen Isabella II, he returned to Spain, hastened the restoration of the Bourbons, and became Lieutenant-General on the coronation of Alfonso XII as king. He was then elected to the Senate of Spain as a senator for life. He was the Minister of War under Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, whose assassination on 8 August 1897 effectively made him the interim Prime Minister of Spain until 4 October of that same year.

He went on to become Prime Minister of Spain twice again in two more separate incidents.^[4]

Retirement

On his retirement at the age of 72, he was given the Toison de Oro, or Order of the Golden Fleece, the highest possible distinction given to a person in Spain, for his tirelessly defending the Spanish Monarchy and for keeping Spain in relative peace.^[4] Earlier, he received the Cross of San Fernando which already entitled him to a pension. Don Marcelo Azcárraga died in Madrid.

Family and Ancestry

On his mother's side, Azcárraga descends from the Spanish Filipino Lizarraga family, heirs of the fallen Conde de Lizarraga.^[5] His maternal uncles' families, collectively known as the "Palmero brothers" or "Hermanos Palmero" were active in Philippine politics before World War II. He was also an uncle to the Count of Albay, Pedro Govantes.^[6]^[7] His brother Manuel was a scholar who wrote a book on the Philippine economy.

Tribute

The major road stretching in the central city of Manila was named after Azcárraga. However, it was changed after Filipino independence in 1945 to Claro M. Recto Avenue, after Philippine Senator Claro M. Recto. A few of the older Manila residents still call this road "Calle Azcárraga" or "Paseo de Azcárraga".