Joaquín Francisco Pacheco y Gutiérrez-Calderón

Don Joaquín Francisco Pacheco y Gutiérrez-Calderón (22 February 1808 – 8 October 1865) also known as El Pontífice (The Pontiff), was a Spanish politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of Spain in 1847 and held other important offices such as Minister of State. He was also Prosecutor General of Spain.

Biography Early life On 22 February 1808, Pacheco was born in Écija as son to a notary of the city council. He studied humanities at Asunción College in Córdoba and in 1823 went to the University of Seville, where he studied jurisprudence,

From 1837 to 1858, he held a seat in the Congress of Deputies, representing the Province of Córdoba. In 1858, he was elected senator.

On 28 March 1847, he was appointed prime minister, a position he held for 5 months. His management was limited to retaining office as the Cortes Generales held an opposing majority and he received the animosity of the king consort, Francisco de Asis as well as the royal clique. He returned to the Spanish Government as Minister of State, with Baldomero Espartero in 1854, and Alejandro Mon in 1864.

He was also ambassador to London (1856), Rome (1854 and 1864), as well as France, prosecutor of the Supreme Court (1843 and 1847), a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, Royal Academy of History, Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

On 8 October 1865, Pacheco died as a part of the 1863–1875 cholera pandemic.

Works Sources:

Poems Catón (1828) A la señora doña... (1831) Oda a la amnistía (1833), a neoclassical poem Una noche (1833) Meditación (1834)

Travel Book Italia (1857)

Theater Alfredo (1835), a romantic drama Los Infantes de Lara (1836), a historical drama Bernardo del Carpio (1848), a drama

History “Historia de las Cortes de 1837” (1839), in Madrid Magazine