Francisco Garcia Calderon - A Stan Klos Website
GARCIA-CALDERON, Francisco, Peruvian statesman,
born in Arequipa. 18 April, l829; died 1909. In 1842 he entered the College of
the Independencia in his native City, where he was graduated in law, and was
appointed professor of philosophy and mathematics in 1849. In 1850 he obtained
the degree of LL. D., and in 1852 was admitted to the bar of the superior court
of Arequipa, being appointed in 1854 professor of jurisprudence of the
University, he was elected deputy to congress and president of the chamber in
1867, and in 1868 was secretary of the treasury.
After the occupation of Lima by the Chileans, 16 January
1881, the conquerors refused to treat for peace with Pierola, and the citizens
started a movement for the election of a provisional government. The Chilean
governor favored the idea, and Garcia-Calderon was elected. He called together
the old congress, which had been elected before the war, but only a few
representatives answered his summons. The congress refused to authorize the
president to consent to any permanent cession of Peruvian territory, and was
dissolved by an order of Admiral Lynch on 23 August.
Meanwhile Garcia was buoyed up with the hope of an
intervention by the United States, and was arrested by order of the Chilean
governor, on 6 November, on the pretext that he had solicited foreign
intervention. A few days afterward he was transported to Chile, and kept
prisoner on parole in Santiago till the end of the year, when Garcia returned to
Lima.
On the installment of Yglesias's government in 1884,
Garcia was elected to the senate and appointed president of that body, which
position he still holds (1887). He is a corresponding member of the Spanish
academy, member of many South American literary and scientific societies, has
contributed largely to current literature, and has published a "Diccionario de
la Legislatión Peruana" (1859-'62).
According to later documents in the Mandeville Special
Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego, Garcia Calderon
was a key figure in the final peace accords between Peru and Chile:
“Commissioned in 1892 to arbitrate the land disputes between Peru and
Ecuador, he compiled a history of the contested provinces of Mainas, Jaen and
Tumbes. According to Garcia Calderon, the King of Spain decreed in 1802 that the
territory of Mainas be transferred from the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada to that
of Peru. This event marked the beginning of a legal tug-of-war over the
territories involving the archdiocese of Lima, the presidency of Ecuador and the
viceroyalties of Peru and Nueva Granada. The first time these lands were
publicly disputed was shortly after independence in 1822, when half of the
Peruvian territory gained its sovereignty and the other half remained subject to
the king's rule. Ecuador alleged that the Royal Decree of 1802 did not modify
the demarcation between Peru and Ecuador, while Peru's position was that the
royal decree effectively divided the territory.
“Basing its argument on the assumption that colonial divisions were no
longer valid, Ecuador claimed that the Peruvian state lost possession of the
lands with independence. In spite of this claim, Peru centered its defense on
the Royal Decree of 1802, arguing that royal decrees concerning land division
transcended the territorial division of the nineteenth century. Discrediting or
validating the royal decree of 1802 became the point of contention for both
countries.
“The argumentation was reduced to the rubrics of semantics and philology
when the words chosen by the magistrate in charge of these divisions, Don
Francisco Requena, left an opening for both countries to interpret the document
to their advantage. Furthermore, both countries conjured up the memory and goals
of Simon Bolivar as patriotic justifications to support their claims. The
situation was further complicated by the Herrera-Garcia Treaty, in which Ecuador
recognized that the provinces of Tumbes and Jaen did effectively belong to Peru.
Ecuador later renounced the treaty.
“In another international dispute, Garcia Calderon served as the guarantor
of the contract between the Peruvian government and Nicolas Barbier and
Tranquille Fenestre, French citizens residing in France, to build
French-designed lighthouses along the Peruvian coast. The contract was made
through L.V. de Champeux, a French citizen residing in Lima, and stipulated that
the firm of Barbier and Fenestre would be in charge of all lighting along the
Peruvian coast. Garcia Calderon became involved when disputes over payment for
services and other disagreements were brought up in 1895. In the early 1900s,
Garcia Calderon's heirs claimed an amount of money connected with the initial
contract.”
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia by John Looby, Copyright © 2001
StanKlos.comTM
GARCIA-CALDERON, Francisco, Peruvian statesman, born in Arequipa. 18 April, l829. In 1842 he entered the College of the Independencia in his native City, where he was graduated in law, and was appointed professor of philosophy and mathematics in 1849. In 1850 he obtained the degree of LL. D., and in 1852 was admitted to the bar of the superior court of Arequipa, being appointed in 1854 professor of jurisprudence of the University, fie was elected deputy to congress and president of the chamber in 1867, and in 1868 was secretary of the treasury. After the occupation of Lima by the Chilians, 16 January 1881, the conquerors refused to treat for peace with Pierola, and the citizens started a movement for the election of a provisional government. The Chilian governor favored the idea, and Garcia-Calderon was elected. He called together the old congress, which had been elected before the war, but only a few representatives answered his summons. The congress refused to authorize the president to consent to any permanent cession of Peruvian territory, and was dissolved by an order of Admiral Lynch on 23 August Meanwhile Garcia was buoyed up with the hope of an intervention by the United States, and was at-rested by order of the Chilian governor, on 6 November, on the pretext that he had solicited foreign intervention. A few days afterward they were transported to Chili, and kept prisoners on parole in Santiago till the end of the year, when Garcia returned to Lima. On the installment of Yglesias's government in 1884, Garcia was elected to the senate and appointed president of that body, which position he still holds (1887). He is a corresponding member of the Spanish academy, member of many South American literary and scientific societies, has contributed largely to current literature, and has published a "Diccionario de la Legislation Peruana" (1859-'62).
