Orbegoso, Luis José de (1795–1847)

Luis José de Orbegoso (b. 1795; d. 1847), military leader and president of Peru (1833–1835). Orbegoso was born to a notable family of northern Peru. At the time of independence he was an officer of the royalist army, but he offered early support to José de San Martín. Promoted to colonel and then general by Simón Bolívar, Orbegoso was appointed prefect of Trujillo in 1824 and 1827. As an active and popular participant in one of the most complex struggles for power among nineteenth-century Peruvian military leaders, Orbegoso fought under the banner of the constitutional resistance to military caudillismo. Having been elected president of the republic by the National Convention in 1833, Orbegoso withstood attempts by Generals Augustín Gamarra and Pedro Bermúdez to oust him in 1834. A civil war ensued that was initially favorable to Orbegoso. However, General Felipe Santiago Salaverry rebelled against Orbegoso in 1835. Orbegoso responded by allying himself with Bolivian General Andrés de Santa Cruz. The alliance defeated Salaverry and established the Peru-Bolivia Confederation (1836–1839), in which Orbegoso performed as president of the newly created state of Northern Peru. However, Orbegoso rebelled against the confederation in 1838, an action that led to his exile.

See alsoPeru: From the Conquest Through Independence; Salaverry, Felipe Santiago; Santa Cruz, Andrés de; Trujillo.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Evaristo San Cristóbal, El gran mariscal, Luis José de Orbegoso: Su vida y su obra (1941).

Jorge Basadre, Historia de la República del Perú, vol. 1 (1963).

Additional Bibliography

Méndez G., Cecilia. "Tradiciones liberales en los Andes: Militares y campesinos en la formación del estado peruano." Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe 15:1 (January-June, 2004): 35-63.

                                      Alfonso W. Quiroz