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The Count of Cabarrús | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byAgustín Esteve, 1808–1810 | |
| Minister of Finances | |
| In office 7 July 1808 – 27 April 1810 | |
| Monarch | Joseph I |
| Preceded by | Miguel José Azanza |
| Succeeded by | José Martínez de Hervás |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1752 (1752) |
| Died | 1810 (aged 57–58) |
| Resting place | Seville Cathedral |
Francisco Cabarrús, 1st Count of Cabarrús (1752–1810) was a Spanish-French adventurer andfinancier.
He was born inBayonne, France, where his father, Dominique Cabarrus Fourcade was a merchant and shipbuilder, linked to a saga ofBasque sea-captains, whalers and adventurers, who settled inCapbreton (a town near Bayonne), coming from theNavarre region of Spain.
Francois was sent to study inToulouse but was recalled to Bayonne by his family due to certain amorous adventures and was sent by his father to Spain to practice with one of his business correspondents, named Galabert. He not only learned the business, but also fell in love and married Maria Antonia Galabert Casanova, his employer's daughter. They settled in the town ofCarabanchel Alto nearMadrid, where Maria Antonia's grandfather had a soap factory. Their mansion in Carabanchel was named Maison St. Pierre (in French) and many years later this mansion and the lands surrounding it were incorporated into the Manor lands of the Count of Montijo (father of the EmpressEugenia de Montijo). However, he soon began to take an active interest in public matters of the court in nearby Madrid.
TheAge of Enlightenment had reached Madrid, andKingCharles III, was favourable to reforms advocated by a circle of politicians, includingGaspar Melchor de Jovellanos,Count Campomanes,Count Floridablanca, Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea (Count of Aranda). Among these Cabarrus became conspicuous, especially in finance.[1]
He founded a bank, theBanco de San Carlos – which is the precursor of today'sBank of Spain, a company to trade with the South American colonies and with Asia through thePhilippine Islands – theReal Compañía de Filipinas,[1] and an agricultural and hydraulic project known as theCanal de Cabarrus which is the origin of today'sCanal de Isabel II, supplying the water to the city of Madrid, in the northeast of theMadrid Community – in the course of theJarama and within the municipal boundaries of the towns ofTorrelaguna,Patones,Torremocha del Jarama,Uceda andCaraquiz. He was also involved in at least two other projects involved in the opening of navigable waterways which were never completed. One was the Canal del Guadarrama which was supposed to open a navigable waterway from Madrid to the Ocean linking several river basins from the Guadarrama River up to the Guadalquivir River and from there to the sea (several ruins of these canals are still visible in the Guadarrama River basin area). The other project involved the widening of theLlobregat River in the province of Barcelona inCatalonia in order to open up the Llobregat River valley to shipping and thus give impulse to the future industrial region of Catalonia with all the textile and mining projects of the region. He counted on the Lemaur brothers for the technical part of the projects. He also probably took note of the Canal du Midi and the Canal del Languedoc, built about a century earlier in France which had given the French such good results by making available a navigable waterway from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean without having to navigate around Spain and avoiding the Strait of Gibraltar. The impulsor of the Canal del Lanquedoc was Pierre Paul Riquet, Count of Caraman and great-grandfather ofJoseph Riquet, also Count of Caraman and laterPrince of Chimay, and the last husband of Teresa Cabarrus Galabert. The family relationship between several members of the Cabarrus family and the Lesseps family (also originary from Bayonne), one of whose most notable members was Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal probably also influenced in this canal building impulse.
As one of the most influential members of the council of finance, he had planned many reforms in that department. When Charles III died (1788), and thereactionary administration ofCharles IV put a stop to Enlightenment reforms, the men who had taken an active part in reform were suspected and prosecuted. Cabarrus himself was accused ofembezzlement and thrown into prison[1] in the Castle ofBatres, a town near Madrid.
After two years he was released, created acount and employed in stately missions – he would even have been sent toParis as Spanish ambassador, had not theFrench Directory objected to him as being of French birth.[1]
Cabarrus took no part in the maneuvers through which Charles IV was obliged toabdicate and make way forJoseph Bonaparte (as King Jose I of Spain), brother ofNapoleon Bonaparte, but his French birth and intimate knowledge of Spanish affairs recommended him to the emperor as the fittest person for the difficult post ofminister of finance, which he held at his death.[1] He died inSeville while on a trip accompanying Joseph Bonaparte and is buried in theCathedral of Seville.
Due to the support he had given Joseph Bonaparte during his short reign in Spain, he was considered anafrancesado and, although he had already died, whenFerdinand VII recovered the throne, his family was persecuted and his fortune and holdings were confiscated. There is even a rumor that states that his remains were removed from his tomb in the Cathedral of Seville and thrown into theGuadalquivir. With all of the political turmoil of the following period, the heritage he left his heirs was restored and confiscated several times depending on who would be governing in Madrid.
His son, heir and secondConde de Cabarrus,Domingo Cabarrús Galabert, held several positions in government and was governor of the provinces ofPalencia andValladolid among other official posts. His daughter, Teresa Cabarrus Galabert,Thérèse Tallien, also Madamme Tallien (afterwards Countess of Caraman and Princess ofChimay), played a part in the later stages of theFrench Revolution,[1] being named as Notre Dame de Buon Secours and Notre Dame de Thermidor by her contemporaries.One of his grandsonsDomingo Cabarrus Quilty married Enriqueta Kirkpatrick y Grivegnée, sister ofManuela Kirkpatrick y Grivegnée, mother of Empress Eugenia de Montijo who married Emperor Napoleon III of France, and of the Duquesa de Alba. Domingo Cabarrus Quilty died before his father, Domingo Cabarrus Galabert and therefore did not become the third Count of Cabarrus, title that was inherited by his daughter, Paulina Cabarrus Kirkpatrick, as third Countess of Cabarrus.
Francisco Cabarrus Lalanne also acquired the title of Viscount of Rabouilhet from Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, Count of Aranda, originally for his other son, Francisco Cabarrus Galabert, but the early death of this son made him join both titles and up to today the present Counts of Cabarrus carry also the title of Viscounts of Rabouilhet. The town ofRabouilhet and its neighboring towns and countryside (also included in the title deed) are in the Lanquedoc region of France.
His close friend,Francisco Goya, painted a full body portrait of him. This portrait is currently exhibited in the Bank of Spain building in Madrid.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cabarrus, François".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 914.
