| Rafael Gasset Chinchilla | |
| Office: | Minister of Development |
| Predecessor: | Luis Pidal y Mon |
| Successor: | Joaquín Sánchez de Toca Calvo |
| Termstart: | 8 April 1900 |
| Termend: | 23 October 1900 |
| Party: | Liberal Party Liberal Conservative Party |
| Birth Date: | 23 November 1866 |
| Birth Place: | Madrid, Spain |
| Death Date: | 11 April 1927 |
| Death Place: | Madrid, Spain |
| Signature: | Firma de Rafael Gasset.svg |
| Predecessor1: | Francisco Javier González de Castejón y Elío |
| Successor1: | Manuel Allendesalazar y Muñoz de Salazar |
| Termstart1: | 20 July 1903 |
| Termend1: | 5 December 1903 |
| Predecessor2: | Álvaro de Figueroa, 1st Count of Romanones |
| Successor2: | Manuel García-Prieto, 1st Marquis of Alhucemas |
| Termstart2: | 1 December 1905 |
| Termend2: | 6 July 1906 |
| Predecessor3: | Manuel García-Prieto, 1st Marquis of Alhucemas |
| Successor3: | Francisco de Federico y Martínez |
| Termstart3: | 30 November 1906 |
| Termend3: | 4 December 1906 |
| Predecessor4: | José Sánchez Guerra |
| Successor4: | Fermín Calbetón y Blanchón |
| Termstart4: | 2 October 1909 |
| Termend4: | 9 February 1910 |
| Predecessor5: | Fermín Calbetón y Blanchón |
| Successor5: | Miguel Villanueva y Gómez |
| Termstart5: | 2 January 1911 |
| Termend5: | 13 March 1912 |
| Predecessor6: | Miguel Villanueva y Gómez |
| Successor6: | Javier Ugarte y Pagés |
| Termstart6: | 13 June 1913 |
| Termend6: | 27 October 1913 |
| Predecessor7: | Amós Salvador Rodrigáñez |
| Successor7: | Martín Rosales Martel |
| Termstart7: | 30 April 1916 |
| Termend7: | 11 June 1917 |
| Predecessor8: | Luis Rodríguez de Viguri Seoane |
| Successor8: | Manuel Portela Valladares |
| Termstart8: | 7 December 1922 |
| Termend8: | 3 September 1923 |
Rafael Gasset Chinchilla (November 1866 - 11 April 1927)[1] was a Spanish lawyer, journalist, and politician. He served as the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Development several times during the regency of Maria Christina of Austria and later the reign of Alfonso XIII.
Rafael Gasset Chinchilla was born on 23 November 1866 in Madrid, the son of [2] from Pontevedra and Rafaela Chinchilla y Díaz from Oñate. He was director of El Imparcial following the death of his father, who founded the newspaper on 20 May 1884.
He began his political career as an independent politician, he participated in the 1891 elections and obtained a seat as a representative for the Santiago de Cuba district.[3]
Gasset served as the Minister of Agriculture, Industry, Commerce, and Public Works twice: between 8 April and 23 October 1900; and between 20 July and 15 December 1903,[4] the first Minister of Agriculture in Spanish history. He was one of the figures responsible for the rapprochement between Francisco Silvela and General Camilo García de Polavieja in 1898. Starting in 1899, Gasset assumed the ideas of the Aragonese politician Joaquín Costa,[5] which he would try to put into practice in an attempt to improve agricultural irrigation, during the government of Francisco Silvela.
In 1903, during his second term, under the Fernández-Villaverde government, Gasset promoted a program that emphasized hydraulic works and the construction of local roads, however, his proposals were unattended at the end of 1903, the result of the change of prime minister. In 1905, he joined the Liberal Party and later served as the Minister of Public Works on 1 December 1905, under the Moret government.
He died on 11 April 1927, buried in Galapagar, where the remains of his second wife Rita Díez de Ulzurrun also rest. Puente Gasset was a bridge in Burgos dedicated to Rafael Gasset, built in 1926 and demolished in 2010. In Ciudad Real,, built in 1915, is also dedicated in his name.