NARVEZ, RAMN MARA, DUQUE (DUKE) DE VALENCIA

born Aug. 5, 1800, Loja, Granada, Spain died April 23, 1868, Madrid Spanish general and conservative political leader, who supported Queen Isabella II of Spain and was six times prime minister (184466). During the First Carlist War (183339) he was one of Regent Mara Cristina de Borbn's most capable military leaders. In 1838 he was elected to the Spanish Cortes (parliament), led an unsuccessful rising at Seville against the Progresistas (Liberals) of Gen. Baldomero Espartero, and had to go into exile. After he and the generals Juan Prim and Francisco Serrano staged a successful coup d'etat against Espartero in 1843, Narvez was asked to form a government under Isabella II. In his first ministry the constitution of 1845 was promulgated, and the finance minister, Alejandro Mon, reformed the tax system. His government fell early in 1846. Narvez reached other significant achievements in his third ministry (October 1847January 1851), among them suppression of a new Carlist revolt and the completion of numerous public works. Although he announced his retirement in 1851, he returned briefly to power three times, always in the service of Isabella II, who was deposed a few months after his death.