José Batlle y Ordoñez | |
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José Batlle y Ordoñez
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19th and 21st President of Uruguay | |
In office 1 March 1911 – 1 March 1915 |
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Preceded by | Claudio Williman |
Succeeded by | Feliciano Viera |
In office 1 March 1903 – 1 March 1907 |
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Preceded by | Juan Lindolfo Cuestas |
Succeeded by | Claudio Williman |
In office 5 February 1899 – 1 March 1899 Acting |
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Preceded by | Juan Lindolfo Cuestas |
Succeeded by | Juan Lindolfo Cuestas |
2nd and 5th Prime Minister of Uruguay | |
In office 1 March 1921 – 1 March 1923 |
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President | Baltasar Brum |
Preceded by | Feliciano Viera |
Succeeded by | Julio María Sosa |
In office 1 March 1927 – 16 February 1928 |
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President | Juan Campisteguy |
Preceded by | Luis Alberto de Herrera |
Succeeded by | Luis Caviglia |
Personal details | |
Born |
Montevideo, Uruguay |
May 21, 1856
Died | October 20, 1929 Montevideo, Uruguay |
(aged 73)
Nationality | Uruguayan |
Political party | Colorado Party |
Spouse(s) | Matilde Pacheco |
Children |
César Rafael Lorenzo Amalia Ana Ana Amalia |
Occupation | Journalist |
José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez (May 21, 1856 – October 20, 1929) was a politician, President of Uruguay whose reforms created the modern Uruguayan welfare state. In 1899 for a few weeks he served as interim President and later was elected to the Presidency for two terms, from 1903 until 1907 and from 1911 to 1915.
Batlle family are some of the most prominent members of the Colorado Party. He was the son of former President Lorenzo Batlle y Grau. His children César, Rafael and Lorenzo were actively engaged in politics. He was the uncle of another Uruguayan President, Luis Batlle Berres and the great-uncle of President Jorge Batlle.
He was a prominent journalist, who founded El Día newspaper in 1886. Batlle used his newspaper as a political platform for criticizing his opponents and promoting his reformist agenda.
In 1904 Batlle's government forces successfully ended the intermittent Uruguayan Civil War which had persisted for many years, when the opposing National Party leader Aparicio Saravia was killed at the battle of Masoller. Without their leader, Saravia's followers abandoned their fight, starting a period of relative peace.
During Batlle y Ordóñez's term in office, secularization became a major political issue. Uruguay banned crucifixes in hospitals by 1906, and eliminated references to God and the Gospel in public oaths. Divorce laws were also established during this time. He led Uruguay's delegation to the Second Hague Conference and was noted for his peace proposals there. Much of the time between his two terms Batlle spent travelling in Europe and picking up ideas for new political and social reforms, which he introduced during his second term.