- This person has a Spanish last name; here del Castillo is the name of the father, and Rada is the name of the mother.
José María Del Castillo y Rada ( Spanish: José María Del Castillo y Rada ; December 20, 1776 - June 5, 1833) is a South American lawyer and politician, one of the founders of independent Colombia .
| Jose Maria del Castillo y Rada | |||||||
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| José María Del Castillo y Rada | |||||||
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| Together with | Joaquin Camacho , Jose Fernandez Madrid | ||||||
| Predecessor | Camilo Torres Tenorio | ||||||
| Successor | Triumvirate : Manuel Rodriguez Torises Jose Miguel Pei Custodio Garcia Rovira | ||||||
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| The president | Simon Bolivar | ||||||
| Predecessor | Antonio Narigno | ||||||
| Successor | Francisco de Paula Santander | ||||||
| Birth | December 20, 1776 Cartagena (Colombia) , Viceroyalty of New Granada | ||||||
| Death | June 5, 1833 (56 years old) Bogota , Viceroyalty of New Granada | ||||||
| Father | Nicholas del Castillo | ||||||
| Mother | Manuela Rada de la Torre | ||||||
| Spouse | Theresa Rivas Arce | ||||||
| Education | |||||||
Jose Maria del Castillo was born in 1776 in Cartagena de Indias in the Viceroyalty of New Granada , his parents were the Spanish immigrant Nicolas del Castillo, who managed to enter the elite of Cartagena, and Manuela Rada de la Torre. In his youth, he moved to Santa Fe de Bogotá , where he studied at the College of Nuestra Senora del Rosario. After studying law, he became a well-known lawyer in colonial courts.
After the revolutionary events of July 1810, José Maria del Castillo became a member of the Electoral College, whose work led to the emergence of the Free State of Cundinamarca . Soon, however, José María del Castillo switched sides and preferred to support the federalists who supported the unification of the provinces of the former Viceroyalty into a single state. He participated in the Congress of the United Provinces, which formed the state of the United Provinces of New Granada , and when the Triumvirate was formed to govern the country, Jose Maria del Castillo was elected interim instead of the member of the Triumvirate who was absent at the time of the election.
In November 1815, the Triumvirate was abolished, and instead, the presidency was introduced, which took Camilo Torres Tenorio ; Jose Maria del Castillo became chairman of the Congress of the United Provinces. When Jose Fernandez Madrid became president in March 1816, Jose Maria del Castillo became Minister of Defense. When the Spanish forces liquidated the independence of New Granada , Jose Maria del Castillo, like many other functionaries of the United Provinces, was arrested, but unlike most other leaders of the country, he was not executed, the death penalty was replaced for him with imprisonment.
When the congress in Cucut created the state of Colombia in 1821, Jose Maria del Castillo became interim vice-president of the new country, introducing a new Constitution and laws on the liberation of slaves. After the elections were held, and Bolivar was elected president of the country, and Santander was elected vice-president, then Jose Maria del Castillo became Minister of Finance.
In 1828, amid the collapse of the system of government in the country, Bolivar introduced a dictatorship and abolished the post of vice president. When Bolivar went on a military campaign to the south, he left the Council of State to govern the country, and Jose Maria del Castillo was appointed chairman.
After the death of Bolivar and the collapse of Greater Colombia, Jose Maria del Castillo left politics and became a teacher at the College of Nuestra Senora del Rosario, and then became its rector.