Eduardo López de Romaña
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| Eduardo López de Romaña | |
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Constitutional President of Peru
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| In office September 8, 1899 – September 3, 1903 |
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| Preceded by | Nicolás de Piérola |
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| Succeeded by | Manuel Candamo |
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| Born | 1847 |
| Died | 1912 |
| Political party | Civilista Party |
| Profession | Engineer |
Eduardo López de Romaña (19 March 1847 – 26 May 1912) was President of Peru from 1899 to 1903. A respected member of the Peruvian Elite and López de Romaña Family, he was the first engineer to become President of the Republic, and one of several Presidents from the Civilista Party during the era of the "Aristocratic Republic".
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[edit] Early years
López de Romaña was born in Arequipa to a family representing the regional aristocracy of Peru. He left to study in Europe and worked as an engineer. Upon his return to Peru in 1874, he worked in the fledgling agricultural development and engineering circles of the country.
He later came into contact with members of the Civilista Party, which he eventually joined. Although belonging to such party, he took power in 1899 with the support of the National Coalition Party, a new alliance between the civilist and democratic party that took place on November 24, 1898. Surprisingly, the support of both parties was initially offered to his brother, Alejandro López de Romaña, but he declined it in favor of Eduardo.
[edit] President of the Republic (1899 – 1903)
During these years, Carlos de Piérola, brother of former president Nicolás de Piérola, was the majority leader of the Chamber of Deputies, while Manuel Candamo, a civilista party leader, presided over the Senate. This division allowed for the prevalence of the democrats in the Chamber of Deputies, and for the civilistas in the Senate.
These differences, however, rapidly turned into the democrats leading the opposition. De Romaña reshuffled his cabinet almost exclusively with civilistas, a move which led the majority democrats of the chamber of deputies to continuously censure. The result were various parliamentary discords that took place concerning their obligation in not dismissing censured ministers.
The development in agriculture also continued during López de Romaña's term, as well as that in the mining and other related industries. The code of mining was promulgated in 1901, as well as the Code of Trade and the Code of Waters in 1902. He also created the Nueva Compañia ("New Company") for the collection of the taxes of the state.
In 1901, the creation of Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina took place under his sponsorship and that of a Belgian mission. López de Romaña faced various coups in favor of the former president Andrés Avelino Cáceres, but he successfully completed his presidency in 1903.
It was under his term that Peruvians coined the term "Aristocratic Republic" which continued until the second government of Augusto B. Leguía and the hegemony of the Civil Party in the government of the country.
He died in Lima in 1912.
