Istúriz, Francisco Javier de

Born 1790; died 1871. Spanish political figure.

Istúriz participated in the Spanish War of Independence of 1808–14. During the Revolution of 1820–23, he was president of the Cortes (1822). He supported the Cádiz constitution of 1812. After the defeat of the revolution Istúriz was sentenced to death; he fled to London but returned to his homeland in 1834. During the first Carlist war and the Spanish Revolution of 1834–43 he turned toward the right and joined the party of the Moderates. Chairman of the Council of Ministers and minister of foreign affairs from May to August 1836, Isturiz persecuted the democrats and disbanded the Cortes. He was chairman of the Council of Ministers for the second time from 1846 to 1847 and joined the Liberal Union in 1854. In 1864 he abandoned politics.