Mariano Benlliure was born in 1884 and had a studio in Rome for over twenty years. He there cast his sculpture Accidenti!, which won the second prize at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. His career was unstoppable from then on. His talent as a sculptor earned him countless public and private commissions throughout his life and he also held several senior posts related to the arts in the Spanish government.

Benlliure worked in a great variety of sizes and materials. He worked constantly to expand his knowledge of casting and ceramic techniques and was a master in both disciplines. He made many public monuments, where he introduced innovations to the design of the plinths and bringing great originality to his compositions. Many of his pieces have now become landmarks in their host cities. In Spain, Madrid alone boasts more than a dozen of his works, including the monuments to Francisco de Goya (1902) and General Martínez Campos (1907). Examples of his work can also be found in Valencia, Cordoba, Malaga, Granada, Bilbao and other cities. His sculptures also grace nearly all the national capitals of Latin America.

Benlliure introduced some unique innovations to the design of funerary monuments and some of his works in this field became true paradigms of the genre. Examples include the tomb of the tenor Gayarre in Roncal (1901), the mausoleum to Sagasta (1904) in the Pantheon of Illustrious Men (now the Pantheon of Spain), the Moroder family vault (1907-1910) in Valencia and the tomb of Joselito 'el Gallo' (1926) in the cemetery at Seville.

He was a highly gifted portrait artist, producing scores of outstanding busts of leading figures (inter alia Bauer, Sagasta, Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenie, Cléo de Mérode, the Duke of Alba, Joaquín Sorolla and the Count of Romanones). He also excelled at medal-making and in themes as diverse as bullfighting, childhood, folk culture (his portraits of dancers such as Pastora Imperio are particularly significant), religion, etc.

Marian Benlliure received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1900 in recognition of his excellence as a sculptor, his tireless capacity for work and his prolific and versatile output. His long career placed him at the pinnacle of turn-of-the-century Spanish sculpture.

Leticia Azcue Brea

He was the son of Hipólito Rodrigáñez Sagasta and the nephew of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta and the latter’s sister Isidora. He went to school in his home town of Logroño then studied Law at the Central University of Madrid, where he graduated in 1874. Following in the footsteps of his uncle Práxedes, he became editor and director of the daily newspaper La Iberia. During his time in this role, from 1876 to 1883, he published his opinions and took part in political debate. In 1883 he married Emilia, the daughter of politician and journalist José Sánchez Guerra, whom he had met at the offices of the newspaper. In 1881 he was elected as a member of parliament for Logroño, and became a loyal associate of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta in the latter’s first cabinet following the Restoration. He subsequently represented the district of Arnedo in La Rioja in the lower house of parliament from 1886 to 1905 before being granted a lifetime seat in the upper house.

In March 1902 he was appointed Treasury Minister in Sagasta’s last government. After the death of his uncle he continued the latter’s political line, allying himself with Eugenio Montero Ríos in his contest with Segismundo Moret for the leadership of the Liberal Party. His main contributions were in economic and financial policy, and it was this that earned him an appointment as Governor of the Banco de España in February 1910. He left the bank in April 1911 to become Treasury Minister again. One of his biggest achievements was to do away with excise tax.

He served two more terms as Governor of the Banco de España, from November 1917 to April 1919 and from January to September 1923. He took an interest in the development of agriculture, industry and trade across the country. As an MP he argued against certain taxes on the grounds that they hampered the development of trade and industry and the establishment of national savings banks. He was appointed to the Council of State in 1914.

Alongside his public offices he also sat on the boards of a number of private trading companies including Sociedad General Azucarera de España and Unión Alcoholera Española, in the latter case as Chairman.

He settled in Madrid but worked ceaselessly for his home region of La Rioja. In recognition for his efforts he was elected Chair of the Centro Riojano association in Madrid in 1903. It was under his chairmanship that the association set up a free school. He also held the Great Cross for Military Merit and the Great Cross of the Order of Charles III.

Elena Serrano García