The Count of Altamira | |
Honorific-Suffix: | GE |
Birth Date: | 10 January 1756 |
Birth Place: | Madrid, Spain |
Death Place: | Madrid, Spain |
Birthname: | Vicente Joaquín Osorio de Moscoso y Guzmán |
Nationality: | Spanish |
Spouse: | María Ignacia Álvarez de Toledo y Gonzaga |
Father: | Ventura Osorio de Moscoso y Fernández de Córdoba, 10th Count of Altamira |
Mother: | María de la Concepción de Guzmán y de la Cerda |
Children: | Vicente Isabel Osorio de Moscoso y Álvarez de Toledo, 12th Count of Altamira |
Honorific Prefix: | The Most Excellent |
Vicente Joaquín Osorio de Moscoso y Guzmán, 11th Count of Altamira, GE (10 January 1756 – 26 August 1816), was a Spanish peer, politician and diplomat who served as Consejero de Estado and president of the Junta Central during the reign of Charles IV.[1] He was also ambassador in Vienna and Turin.
Vicente Joaquín was born in Madrid the 10 January 1756, son of Ventura Osorio de Moscoso y Fernández de Córdoba, who was the 10th Count of Altamira. His mother was María de la Concepción de Guzmán y de la Cerda, daughter of the Marquesses of Montealegre and Aguilar de Campoo.[2]
Familiarly linked to the court of the Kingdom of Spain, his family had held important positions; being his grandfather, his great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather Sumiller de Corps of different kings.
He married on 3 April 1774, with María Ignacia Álvarez de Toledo y Gonzaga, daughter of Antonio Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio, 10th Marquess of Villafranca del Bierzo and two years later, his father died, thus inheriting his immense fortune. His mother also died in the same year as his father.
Charles III appointed him, shortly after, governor of the Banco de San Carlos, the main bank in the country at the time.
He also finished the works on his Palacio de Altamira in Madrid, begun by his father and designed by Ventura Rodríguez.
Widowed in 1798, Charles IV chose him in 1801 as his main caballerizo mayor.
On 11 December 1806 he married for a second time, with María Magdalena Fernández de Córdoba y Ponce de León. After the Motín de Aranjuez, the new king Ferdinand VII confirmed him in his post, although for a short time, since months later, he fled to Bayonne.
During the War of Independence he belonged to the Junta Suprema Central and became its president (1808-1809).
He died in Madrid the 26 August 1816.