Carmen de Santistevan y Avilés
{{Short description|First Lady of Ecuador from 1856 to 1859}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Carmen de Santistevan y Avilés
| image = Carmen de Santistevan y Avilés -de Robles-.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1810|05|03}}
| birth_place = Daule, Spanish Empire
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1904|03|30|1810|05|03}}
| death_place = Guayaquil, Ecuador
| resting_place = {{ill|General Cemetery of Guayaquil|es|Cementerio General de Guayaquil}}
| death_cause =
| other_names =
| occupation =
| spouse = Francisco Robles
| children =
| awards =
| alma_mater =
| office = First Lady of Ecuador
| term_start = October 16, 1856
| term_end = August 31, 1859
| predecessor = Teresa Jado
| successor = {{ill|Rosa Ascázubi y Matheu|es}}
}}
Carmen de Santistevan y Avilés (May 3, 1810 – March 30, 1904) was the First Lady of Ecuador from 1856 to 1859 as the wife of President Francisco Robles.
Early life
Carmen de Santistevan y Avilés was born on May 3, 1810, in Daule, then part of the Spanish Empire.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l5R1AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Carmen+de+Santistevan%22 |title=Boletín, Volume 9; Volume 11 |publisher=Centro de Investigaciones Históricas de Guayaquil |page=177 |language=Spanish |year=1952 |access-date=February 7, 2019 |via=Google Books}} She was the daughter of Gabriel de Santistevan y Olvera and his first wife, Francisca de Avilés y Castro, with whom he had another daughter named Francisca.{{Cite web |url=http://www.diccionariobiograficoecuador.com/tomos/tomo12/r1.htm |title=Francisco Robles Garcia |first=Rodolfo |last=Pérez Pimentel |author-link=Rodolfo Pérez Pimentel |work=Diccionario Biográfico del Ecuador, tomo XII |publisher=Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil |language=Spanish |access-date=February 7, 2019 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192745/http://www.diccionariobiograficoecuador.com/tomos/tomo12/r1.htm |url-status=dead }} After her father became a widower, he traveled to Buenos Aires, remarried, and had nine children, never returning to Ecuador.
She was a descendant of the paternal line of the Komnenos, an important dynasty of the Byzantine Empire.{{Cite web |url=https://coterraneus.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/la-descendencia-ecuatoriana-de-los-emperadores-bizantinos-historia-secreta-de-america-4/ |title=La descendencia ecuatoriana de los emperadores bizantinos |trans-title=The Ecuadorian Descent of the Byzantine Emperors |first=Francisco |last=Núñez del Arco |work=Coterraneus |language=Spanish |date=April 13, 2011 |access-date=February 7, 2019}}
Marriage and offspring
Carmen de Santistevan y Avilés met and became engaged to General Francisco Robles while living with her sister Francisca, who was married to Robles's brother, Ciríaco Robles García. Their wedding took place on November 5, 1835, in Guayaquil Cathedral.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pfc4GSOsDB8C&pg=PA741 |title=Revista Hidalguía número 19. Año 1956 |publisher=Ediciones Hidalguia |page=741 |language=Spanish |access-date=February 7, 2019 |via=Google Books}}
The marriage produced three children, the first of whom did not reach adulthood:
- Francisco Robles y Santistevan (1838–1841)
- Ignacio Robles y Santistevan (1839–1915), married to Rafaela de Buenaventura y Macías, with offspring
- Dolores Robles y Santistevan (1841–1904), married to José Serafín Baquerizo Vera, with offspring{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPifAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Ignacio+Robles+y+Santistevan%22 |title=Boletín del Centro de Investigaciones Históricas |publisher=Centro de Investigaciones Históricas de Guayaquil |page=44 |language=Spanish |year=1931 |access-date=February 7, 2019 |via=Google Books}}
Her son Ignacio became a corvette captain, the civil and military chief of the Plaza de Guayaquil (1895), Eloy Alfaro's Minister of Foreign Affairs (1895–1896), the governor of Guayas (1896–1898), and the consul of Mexico in Guayaquil (1896–1902), among other posts.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gudKx-W6mtAC&q=%22Ignacio+Robles%22 |title=Collection of Biographies of Ecuadorians Issued in Pamphlet Form, Volume 1 |page=35 |language=Spanish |year=1864 |access-date=February 7, 2019 |via=Google Books}} The wedding of her daughter Dolores took place on September 26, 1856, in the halls of Carondelet Palace.
Later years
A practicing Catholic, she joined others (such as First Lady Teresa Jado) in defending the cause of the Jesuits who unexpectedly arrived in Guayaquil when they were expelled from the Republic of New Granada in 1851.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/establecimiento00goog |title=Establecimiento de la Compañía de Jesús en la República del Ecuador en el año de 1851 |trans-title=Establishment of the Society of Jesus in the Republic of Ecuador in the Year 1851 |publisher=I. Miranda |pages=[https://archive.org/details/establecimiento00goog/page/n60 45]–47 |language=Spanish |year=1851 |access-date=February 7, 2019 |via=Internet Archive}}
Carmen de Santistevan y Avilés died in Guayaquil on March 30, 1904, at the age of 93. She was buried in the {{ill|General Cemetery of Guayaquil|es|Cementerio General de Guayaquil|lt=General Cemetery}}, where the family owned a mausoleum richly decorated with sculptures.{{Cite web |url=http://mail.inpc.gob.ec/pdfs/Publicaciones/rutascementerioguayaquil.pdf |title=Rutas patrimoniales del Cementerio General de Guayaquil |trans-title=Heritage Routes of the General Cemetery of Guayaquil |publisher=National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Ecuador |language=Spanish |access-date=February 7, 2019}}
References
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{{Succession box
| title = First Lady of Ecuador
| years = 1856–1859
| before = Teresa Jado
| after = {{ill|Rosa Ascázubi y Matheu|es}}
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santistevan y Aviles, Carmen}}
Category:19th-century Ecuadorian women
Category:20th-century Ecuadorian women