Rafael Gasset Chinchilla (23 November 1866 - 11 April 1927)[1] was a Spanish lawyer, journalist, and politician. He served as the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Development several times during the regency of Maria Christina of Austria and later the reign of Alfonso XIII.

Quick Facts Minister of Development, Preceded by ...
Rafael Gasset Chinchilla
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Minister of Development
In office
8 April 1900  23 October 1900
Preceded byLuis Pidal y Mon
Succeeded byJoaquín Sánchez de Toca Calvo
In office
20 July 1903  5 December 1903
Preceded byFrancisco Javier González de Castejón y Elío
Succeeded byManuel Allendesalazar y Muñoz de Salazar
In office
1 December 1905  6 July 1906
Preceded byÁlvaro de Figueroa, 1st Count of Romanones
Succeeded byManuel García-Prieto, 1st Marquis of Alhucemas
In office
30 November 1906  4 December 1906
Preceded byManuel García-Prieto, 1st Marquis of Alhucemas
Succeeded byFrancisco de Federico y Martínez
In office
2 October 1909  9 February 1910
Preceded byJosé Sánchez Guerra
Succeeded byFermín Calbetón y Blanchón
In office
2 January 1911  13 March 1912
Preceded byFermín Calbetón y Blanchón
Succeeded byMiguel Villanueva y Gómez
In office
13 June 1913  27 October 1913
Preceded byMiguel Villanueva y Gómez
Succeeded byJavier Ugarte y Pagés
In office
30 April 1916  11 June 1917
Preceded byAmós Salvador Rodrigáñez
Succeeded byMartín Rosales Martel
In office
7 December 1922  3 September 1923
Preceded byLuis Rodríguez de Viguri Seoane
Succeeded byManuel Portela Valladares
Personal details
Born23 November 1866
Madrid, Spain
Died11 April 1927
Madrid, Spain
Political partyLiberal Party
Liberal Conservative Party
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Biography

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Photographed by Franzen

Rafael Gasset Chinchilla was born on 23 November 1866 in Madrid, the son of Eduardo Gasset y Artime [es][2] from Pontevedra and Rafaela Chinchilla y Díaz from Oñate. He was director of El Imparcial following the death of his father, who founded the newspaper on 20 May 1884.

He began his political career as an independent politician, he participated in the 1891 elections and obtained a seat as a representative for the Santiago de Cuba district.[3]

Gasset served as the Minister of Agriculture, Industry, Commerce, and Public Works twice: between 8 April and 23 October 1900; and between 20 July and 15 December 1903,[4] the first Minister of Agriculture in Spanish history. He was one of the figures responsible for the rapprochement between Francisco Silvela and General Camilo García de Polavieja in 1898. Starting in 1899, Gasset assumed the ideas of the Aragonese politician Joaquín Costa,[5] which he would try to put into practice in an attempt to improve agricultural irrigation, during the government of Francisco Silvela.[3]

In 1903, during his second term, under the Fernández-Villaverde government, Gasset promoted a program that emphasized hydraulic works and the construction of local roads, however, his proposals were unattended at the end of 1903, the result of the change of prime minister.[3] In 1905, he joined the Liberal Party and later served as the Minister of Public Works on 1 December 1905, under the Moret government.[4]

He died on 11 April 1927, buried in Galapagar,[2] where the remains of his second wife Rita Díez de Ulzurrun also rest.[1] Puente Gasset (lit.'Gasset Bridge') was a bridge in Burgos dedicated to Rafael Gasset, built in 1926 and demolished in 2010. In Ciudad Real, Gasset Park [es], built in 1915, is also dedicated in his name.

References

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