Person
Aróstegui Herrera, Gonzalo (1771-1828)Other forms
La Habana 1771 - Guanabacoa (La Habana, Cuba) 1828-08-10
Spanish brigadier, Knight of the Order of Calatrava, general captain, governor and politician. Son of the Colonel Martín Aróstegui and Antonia María de Herrera y Chacón. He had two brothers: Martín y José. On 16 March1809 he received the permission to marry María de Carmen Valcacer, and they had no children.
He fought against the French troops in the Peninsular War and was sent to prison the second day after being designated second lieutenant. He also was an infantry brigadier in the Estado Mayor (military staff), General Major, Politician Chief of Gibraltar, military governor and politician of Malaga.
Supporting the constitutional system, he was named governor and chief of Puerto Rico. In December 1821, José Núñez de Cáceres had proclaimed the "Independencia Efímera" (The Ephemeral Independence) in Santo Domingo, and invited Aróstegui to declare the independence, which he refused because he wanted to maintain the spanish rule over the island. He was a congressman for Havana and vice president at the Cortes until 12 February 1822. When he came back to Havana from Puerto Rico, he collaborated with the army and settled there until his death on August 1839.
He was granted with the Gran Cruz de San Hermenegildo (Grand Cross of San Hermenegildo).
Date of the event: 1820 - 1823
Gil Novales, Alberto. Diccionario biográfico de España (1808-1833): de los orígenes del liberalismo a la reacción absolutista. Alberto Gil Novales. Madrid: Fundación Mapfre. 3 v. (3406 p.). 978-84-9844-236-6 (Vol. 1).