Juan Antonio Pezet
{{Short description|President of Peru from 1863 to 1865}}
{{family name hatnote|Pezet|Rodríguez de la Piedra|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Juan Antonio Pezet
|image = President Pezet.jpg
|order = 16th President of Peru
|term_start = August 5, 1863
|term_end = November 8, 1865
|primeminister= Juan Antonio Ribeyro Estrada
Manuel Costas Arce
Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco
Pedro José Calderón
|predecessor = Pedro Diez Canseco
|successor = Pedro Diez Canseco
|order2 = Prime Minister of Peru
|term_start2 = 1861
|term_end2 = 1863
|president2 = Ramón Castilla
Miguel de San Román
|predecessor2 = José Maria Raygada y Gallo
|successor2 = Juan Antonio Ribeyro Estrada
|birth_date = {{birth date|1809|6|11|df=y}}
|birth_place = Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru, Spanish Empire
|death_date = {{death date and age|1879|3|24|1809|6|11|df=y}}
|death_place = Lima, Peru
|}}
Juan Antonio Pezet y Rodríguez de la Piedra (11 June 1809 – 24 March 1879) was a Peruvian military officer and politician who served in the positions of Secretary of War, First Vice President and the 16th President of Peru throughout his life. As President, his moderate and cautious attitude towards the occupation of the Chincha Islands by a Spanish Fleet in 1864 was used as an excuse to launch a military uprising that drove him out of power.
Early years
Juan Antonio Pezet Rodríguez Piedra was born in Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru, the son of Dr. Jose Pezet Monel, a physician, journalist, literary and parliamentarian who was among the enterprising heroes of Peru's independence. His French-born grandfather, Antoine Pezet Eustache, had arrived in Lima in 1765. As a boy, Pezet briefly entered the Jesuit College of San Carlos. When General José de San Martín with the Chilean army obliged the viceroy to evacuate Lima in 1821, young Pezet joined the patriots and took part in the campaign as sub-lieutenant. In 1823, he was promoted to lieutenant, and under Bolívar and Sucre, he fought at Junín and Ayacucho.
He became captain in 1828, and in 1835, as colonel of the battalion of sharp-shooters of Rimac, he took part in the rising of President Agustín Gamarra against the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy and was banished.
After his return, he was appointed prefect of Lima and took part in the revolution of Vivanco in 1843. During the revolt, he was appointed Inspector-General of the Army and Prefect of La Libertad. He was wounded and taken prisoner in 1844 but was pardoned, became prefect of Arequipa in 1847, and in 1848 was made general-in-chief of the division of the south and prefect of nada.
Under President Echenique in 1853, he was appointed inspector-general and chief of the Army of the South during the invasion of Bolivia.
President of the Republic
In 1859, Pezet was secretary of war; in 1862, he was elected first vice-president with General San Román,{{cite web |url=http://repositorio.unprg.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/UNPRG/3549/BC-TES-TMP-2356.pdf |title=LA INSTITUCIÓN DE LA VICEPRESIDENCIA DE LA REPÚBLICA EN LA CONSTITUCIÓN PERUANA |author=Abog. Freddy Ronald Centurión González |access-date=2019-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019194834/http://repositorio.unprg.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/UNPRG/3549/BC-TES-TMP-2356.pdf |archive-date=2019-10-19 |url-status=dead }} assuming the presidency following the death of the latter in 1863. During his administration, the difficulties with Spain, which culminated in the occupation of the Chincha Islands on 14 April 1864, began.
But when he signed a treaty with the Spaniards on 27 January 1865, which was considered derogatory to Peruvian national honor, a general uprising followed, so on November 7, 1865, he delivered the executive office to the vice-president and retired to Europe, settling in Richmond, England. He returned in 1871 and lived in retirement in Chorrillos until his death.
Pezet was the dedicatee of a requiem by José María Valle Riestra, a relative by marriage.{{Cite web|url=http://www.requiemsurvey.org/composers.php?id=1791|title=Requiemsurvey.org|website=www.requiemsurvey.org|accessdate=Mar 13, 2021}}
References
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{{succession box |before=— |title=Prime Minister of Peru |years=1861–1863 |after=Juan Antonio Ribeyro}}
{{succession box |before=— |title=Vice President of Peru |years=October 1862 – April 1863 |after=—}}
{{succession box |before=Pedro Diez Canseco |title=President of Peru |years=August 1863 – April 1865 |after=Mariano Ignacio Prado}}
{{succession box |before=Mariano Ignacio Prado |title=President of Peru |years=June 1865 – November 1865 |after=Pedro Diez Canseco}}
{{s-end}}
{{Presidents of Peru}}
{{Prime Ministers of Peru}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pezet, Juan Antonio}}
Category:Peruvian people of Spanish descent
Category:Peruvian people of French descent
Category:Vice presidents of Peru
Category:People of the Chincha Islands War
Category:Recipients of Peruvian parliamentary pardons
Category:Politicians from Lima