Luis María Balanzat de Orvay y Briones

Luis María Balanzat de Orvay y Briones, General Captain of Andalusia, Senator and Minister of War. Painting exhibited in the Army Museum. Luis María Balanzat de Orvay y Briones (1775–1843) was a Spanish military man, engineer and writer. He was also Minister of War in 1822.

Biography Born into a noble family from Ibiza, he was the son of Colonel Mariano Balanzat y Orvay and the brother of Marshal Ignacio Balanzat de Orvay y Briones. Rafael Balanzat y Baranda was his nephew. He fought in many battles in the Peninsular War. In 1814, he was Chief of Staff of the Reserve Army of Galicia, where he remained until the end of the war, being promoted to Brigadier General on May 30, 1815.

After the war, he was tasked by General Joaquín Blake with reorganizing the Special Academy of Engineers in Alcalá de Henares, serving as its head of studies and director. He relinquished this position in 1820 upon being appointed member of the Superior Board of the Corps and Undersecretary of War. In 1822, he joined the government of Francisco Martínez de la Rosa as Minister of War. Later, he ran for Parliament representing the Balearic Islands, and was elected as an alternate on December 3, 1822. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1839. He died in 1843.