Juan de Courten (elder)
| Juan de Courten (elder) | |
|---|---|
| Born |
10 October 1730 Tortosa |
| Died |
21 December 1796 (aged 66) Zaragoza |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Spain
|
| Service/branch | Infantry |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Battles/wars |
War of the Austrian Succession Spanish–Portuguese War Great Siege of Gibraltar War of the Pyrenees |
| Other work | Governor of Oran (1790–1792) |
Juan de Courten (elder) or Juan Antonio Curten Massenet or Juan Courten or Juan Curten (10 October 1730 – 21 December 1796) began his Spanish military career in the War of the Austrian Succession at the age of 14. His father was a brigadier general of engineers who died in 1745. Courten fought in the Spanish–Portuguese War (1761–1763), the Invasion of Algiers in 1775, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar. He was the last Spanish governor of Oran in 1792. As a lieutenant general, he led an infantry division during the War of the Pyrenees against the First French Republic in several actions including Perpignan, Peyrestortes, Truillas, Boulou, and the Black Mountain. He was appointed Captain General of Aragon in 1795.
Born on 10 October 1730, in Tortosa, Courten hailed from a Walloon family that migrated to Spain. His father was Brigadier General Armando de Curten y Gonzáles (b. 1696), a military engineer. In 1692, his grandfather Juan Francisco de Curtén had married Anne Judith Herreford, the daughter of a rich English merchant, and the couple had three sons. Juan Francisco was killed in the Siege of Venlo on 13 September 1702. Armando was born in 1696 and went to the Royal Military Academy in Barcelona in 1719 to study engineering. Armando married Ana Antonio Gonzales in 1726 and was killed in the siege of Tortona on 3 September 1745.
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