Mariano Oliver Aznar is one of the most outstanding painters to emerge from Zaragoza at the turn of the 20th century. In his later years he worked in Madrid as a portrait artist. In Zaragoza he was seen as a good teacher: he trained numerous painters who began their careers with the new century, including Francisco Marín Bagüés. His works stood out at the Zaragoza Exhibition of Fine Arts and Art Industries of 1898 and he obtained an honourable mention at the 1899 edition. He earned similar distinctions at the National Exhibition of 1904 and the Hispano-French Exposition of 1908, all of which earned him a good reputation at local level.

• Julián Gállego Serrano
• María José Alonso

José Maestre Pérez studied Medicine at the University of Valencia and subsequently obtained his PhD at the University of Madrid. He worked as a physician in the towns of Portmán and La Unión in Murcia. In 1891 he married Visitación Zapata and began to manage the business of his father-in-law Miguel Zapata, who possessed one of the largest fortunes in the region. He was a stockholder in the Figueroa mining business and had links with the Liberal Party. He began to work at the company La Maquinista de Levante.

He first went into politics in 1893 as the local leader of the Liberals in the town of La Unión. He later became mayor of the town and also held other local public offices. He was elected as a member of parliament for Cartagena in 1907 and1910 and as a senator in 1905. In 1919 he was made a senator for life. He also maintained friendly links with Juan de la Cierva and other leading Conservatives, and in 1906 he joined the Conservative Part following economic disagreements with Romanones. In 1914 he left the family businesses in the hands of delegated managers and returned to public life.

He was Minister for Supplies under Antonio Maura (1919), Governor of the Banco de España (1921) and Minister for Infrastructures in the Coalition Government also led by Maura, from August 1921 to March 1922. Under his mandate the Directorate General for Mines, Metallurgy and Shipbuilding Industries was set up, the 'Mining Chambers' were founded and the 'Farming Chambers' were restructured. He retired from politics following the coup led by Miguel Primo de Rivera.

Paloma Gómez Pastor