Flores Jijón, Antonio (1833–1915)

Antonio Flores Jijón (b. 23 October 1833; d. 30 August 1915), president of Ecuador (1888–1892). Born in Quito, Antonio was the son of Juan José Flores, Ecuador's first president. Antonio Flores Jijón completed his secondary education in Paris. In 1845, he entered the University of San Marcos in Lima, where he completed a law degree and joined the faculty.

Flores Jijón returned to Ecuador with Gabriel García Moreno (president, 1860–1865) in 1860. Thereafter, he represented Ecuador in various diplomatic posts in Colombia, France, England, the Vatican, Peru, Spain, and the United States.

An unsuccessful candidate for the presidency in 1875, he opposed the government of General Ignacio de Veintimilla (1876–1883), for which he was exiled. He lived in New York from 1878 to 1883, then returned to Ecuador in 1883 to participate in the ouster of Veintimilla and in the writing of a new constitution. During the José María Plácido Caamaño presidency (1883–1888), Flores Jijón represented Ecuador in Europe, and in fact was in Paris in 1888 when he was elected president.

During his term, Flores Jijón sought to implement a progressive program with the support of moderates within the conservative and liberal parties. His government emphasized improved and expanded public education and public works, respect for civil liberties, and administrative, financial, and tax reforms. His accomplishments in the area of public finances included the suppression of the tithe, a renegotiation of the internal and external debt, reform of the customs tariff, state monopolies, and taxes on real estate. Many of his initiatives met strong opposition from conservatives and the clergy. After completing his term in 1892, Flores returned to Europe. He died in Geneva.

See alsoEcuador: Since 1830; Garcia Moreno, Gabriel; Veintemilla, José Ignacio de.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Luis Robalino Dávila, Orígines del Ecuador de hoy: Diez años de civilismo, vol. 6 (1968).

Carlos Manuel Larrea, Antonio Flores Jijón (1974).

Frank MacDonald Spindler, Nineteenth-Century Ecuador (1987), esp. pp. 126-137.

Additional Bibliography

Guzmán Polanco, Manuel de. Antonio Flores Jijón. Quito: Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana "Benjamín Carrión," 2002.

                              Linda Alexander RodrÍguez