Spanish politician of the liberal school, born at Ribadesella on the 28th of August 1776, and died in Madrid on the 23rd of March 1844. He was one of the committee of the Cortes which drew up the new constitution, but, on the return of Ferdinand VII., fell a victim to the reactionary spirit which ensued in 1814, was arrested and sentenced to ten years’ confinement in prison at Ceuta. Fourteen persons were condemned with him, and they experienced such barbarous treatment that in four years three died, two became mad, and the rest received grievous injuries. But the revolution of 1820 restored Argüelles to freedom, and he became minister of the interior. During the regency he was appointed guardian of the young Queen Isabella.
