The secret agent of General Torrijos Francisco de Unzaga Saint Maxent (1788-1849), president of the Liberal Board

Abstract

Málaga Colonel Francisco de Unzaga, son of Governor Luis de Unzaga, was trained at the Pajes School, coinciding with the future freemason generals Van Halen, Manzanares and López Pinto, all of the same age, and with Torrijos, the latter of the generation of his brother. Unzaga was one of those who received King Joseph I at his entrance to Málaga. After the persecution that his relatives received, including the exile of his brother Mariano accompanying the Masonic monarch Bonaparte to the United States, he will be one of the few who survives and in addition to being Commander of the urban militias of Málaga, he will occupy the presidency of the Liberal Junta clandestine and therefore secret correspondent of the first order who will participate in several of the attempts to achieve democracy, such as the expedition of General Manzanares in Estepona and shortly after General Torrijos. Years later Francisco was able to escape from the absolutist retaliation and ended up fighting against the Carlists in defense of Elizabeth II, thus reestablishing his service to a more parliamentary Bourbon crown. His life is paradigmatic of a liberal from the first half of the 19th century worthy of commemoration.