Juan Bautista Topete

Juan Bautista Topete
Portrait by Rafael Monleón
Prime Minister of Spain
Interim
In office
27 December 1870 – 4 January 1871
MonarchAmadeo I
Preceded byJuan Prim
Succeeded byFrancisco Serrano
Minister of the Navy of Spain
In office
3 January 1874 – 13 May 1874
PresidentFrancisco Serrano
Prime MinisterFrancisco Serrano
Juan de Zavala
Preceded byJosé Oreyro y Villavicencio
Succeeded byRafael Rodríguez Arias
In office
26 May 1872 – 13 June 1872
MonarchAmadeo I
Prime MinisterFrancisco Serrano
Preceded byJosé Malcampo
Succeeded byJosé María Beránger
In office
9 January 1870 – 20 March 1870
Monarchs
  • Vacant
  • (Francisco Serrano as Regent)
Prime MinisterJuan Prim
Preceded byJuan Prim
Succeeded byJosé María Beránger
In office
8 October 1868 – 6 November 1869
Monarchs
  • Vacant
  • (Francisco Serrano as Regent)
Prime MinisterFrancisco Serrano
Juan Prim
Preceded byAntonio de Estrada
Succeeded byJuan Prim
Minister of State of Spain
In office
27 December 1870 – 4 January 1871
MonarchAmadeo I
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byPráxedes Mateo Sagasta
Succeeded byCristino Martos y Balbí
Minister of War of Spain
Interim
In office
27 December 1870 – 4 January 1871
MonarchAmadeo I
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byJuan Prim
Succeeded byFrancisco Serrano
Personal details
Born
Juan Bautista Topete y Carballo

24 May 1821
San Andrés Tuxtla, New Spain
Died29 October 1885 (aged 64 years)
Madrid, Spain

Juan Bautista Topete y Carballo (24 May 1821 – 29 October 1885) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. He was born in San Andrés Tuxtla, Mexico.[1] His father and grandfather were also Spanish admirals. He entered the navy at the age of seventeen, cut out a Carlist vessel in 1839, and became a midshipman at twenty-two, obtaining the cross of naval merit for saving the life of a sailor in 1841 and became a lieutenant in 1845. He served on the West Indian station for three years, and was engaged in repressing the slave trade before he was promoted frigate captain in 1857. He was promoted chief of staff to the fleet during the Moroccan War, 1859, after which he received the crosses of Saint Ferdinad and Saint Hermenegild.[1]

Having been appointed chief of the Carrara arsenal at Cádiz, he was elected a deputy and joined the Union Liberal of O'Donnell and Serrano. He was sent out to the Pacific in command of the frigate "Blanca," and was present at the bombardment of Valparaíso and Callao, where he was badly wounded, and in other engagements of the war between Chile and Peru.[1]

On his return to Spain, Topete was made port captain at Cádiz, which enabled him to take the lead of the conspiracy in the fleet against the Bourbon monarchy. He sent the steamer "Buenaventura" to the Canary Islands for Serrano and the other exiles; and when Prim and Sagasta arrived from Gibraltar, the whole fleet under the influence of Topete took such an attitude that the people, garrison and authorities of Cádiz followed suit.[1]

Topete took part in all the posts of the revolutionary government, accepted the post of marine minister, was elected a member of the Cortes in 1869, and supported the pretensions of Antoine, Duke of Montpensier. He initially opposed the election of Amadeus, but latter sat on several cabinets seats of that king's reign. He was prosecuted by the federal republic of 1873 and again took charge of the marine under Serrano in 1874. After the Restoration, he was held aloof for many years, but finally accepted the presidency of a naval board in 1877. Later, he sat in the Senate as a life peer until his death in Madrid.[1]