Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia
| Dr. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco | |
|---|---|
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| Consul of Paraguay | |
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In office October 12, 1813 – February 12, 1814 |
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| Preceded by | Fulgencio Yegros |
| Succeeded by | Fulgencio Yegros |
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In office June 12, 1814 – September 20, 1840 |
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| Preceded by | Fulgencio Yegros |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Antonio Ortiz |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 6, 1766 Yaguarón, Paraguay |
| Died | September 20, 1840 (aged 74) Asunción, Paraguay |
| Nationality | Paraguayan |
| Political party | Independent |
Dr. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco (January 6, 1766 – September 20, 1840) was a Paraguayan lawyer and politician, and the first dictator (1814–1840) of Paraguay following its independence from the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. His official title was "Supreme and Perpetual Dictator of Paraguay", but he was popularly known as El Supremo.
He is considered to be the chief ideologue and political leader of the faction that advocated for the full independence of Paraguay from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and the Empire of Brazil.
Francia was born in Yaguarón, in modern-day Paraguarí. Francia's father was an officer turned tobacco planter from São Paulo, Brazil, and his mother was a Paraguayan descended from Spanish colonisers. He was christened Joseph Gaspar de Franza y Velasco, but later used the more popular name Rodriguez, and changed Franza to the more Spanish Francia. Although his father was simply García Rodríguez Francia (Portuguese: Garcia Rodrigues França), the dictator inserted the particle de to style himself "Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco".
He studied at the monastery school of San Francisco, Asunción, originally in training for the Catholic priesthood, but never entered it. On April 13, 1785, after four years studying, he became a doctor of theology and master of philosophy at the College of Monserrat at the National University of Córdoba, in what would soon become Argentina.
Although he was dogged by suggestions that his father, a Brazilian tobacco exporter, was a mulatto, Francia was awarded a coveted chair of theology at the Seminary of San Carlos in Asunción in 1790. His radical views made his position as a teacher there untenable, and he soon gave up theology to study law. Eventually, he became a lawyer and learned five languages: (Guarani, Spanish, French, Latin and some English).
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