Juan Prim

Juan Prim y Prats, 1st Count of Reus, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos, 1st Viscount of Bruch (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwam ˈpɾim i ˈpɾats]; Catalan: Joan Prim i Prats [ʒuˈam ˈpɾim i ˈpɾats]; 6 December 1814 – 30 December 1870) was a Spanish general and statesman¹ who was briefly Prime Minister of Spain until his assassination.

Biography

Born in Reus on 6 December 1814,² Prim was the son of lieutenant colonel Pablo Prim.³ He entered the free corps known as the tiradores de Isabel II and met his baptism of fire on 7 August 1834, during the First Carlist War, facing the Carlist party of Triaxet.⁴

Over the course of the war, he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and had two orders of knighthood conferred upon him. After the pacification of 1839, as a progressist opposed to the dictatorship of General Espartero, he was sent into exile. However, in 1843 he was elected deputy for Tarragona, and after defeating Espartero at Bruch he entered Madrid in triumph with General Serrano. The regent Maria Christina promoted him major-general, and made him conde de Reus (Count of Reus) and vizconde del Bruch (Viscount of Bruch).⁵

General Narváez, the prime minister, failed to understand what constitutional freedom meant, and General Prim, on showing signs of opposition, was sentenced to six years imprisonment in the . The sentence was not carried out, and Prim remained an exile in England and France until the of 1847. He then returned to Spain, and was first employed as captain-general of () and afterwards as military representative with the sultan during the . In 1854 he was elected to the Cortes, and gave his support to , who promoted him lieutenant-general in 1856. In the he did such good service at (Fnideq), Cabo Negro, Guad al Gelu and Campamento in 1860 that he was made (Marquess of los Castillejos) and ( of Spain).