Mon y Velarde, Juan Antonio (1747–1791)

Juan Antonio Mon y Velarde (b. August 1747; d. 1 September 1791), oidor of the Audiencia of Guadalajara (1775–1778) and the Audiencia of Santa Fe (1781–1790), visitador of the province of Antioquia (1785–1788), and president of Quito (1790–1791).

Born into Asturian aristocracy in the town of Mon, Mon studied law at the universities of Oviedo and Salamanca. In 1778, after serving three years as oidor on the Audiencia of Guadalajara, he was assigned to Santa Fe, although he did not assume his position on the audiencia until three years later. Mon is best remembered for his work as judge-visitor of the province of Antioquia.

Commissioned by Viceroy Antonio Caballero y Góngora to impose order on the royal administration and treasury and to foment mining, agriculture, and commerce, he discharged his obligations with uncommon energy and enlightened vision. He also championed education and public works and founded towns. Mon was promoted to president of the Audiencia of Quito in 1790 but soon thereafter was recalled to Spain to assume a position on the Council of the Indies. His promising career ended prematurely owing to a fatal bout with food poisoning soon after his arrival in Cádiz.

See alsoQuito, Audiencia (Presidency) of .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

José María Restrepo Sáenz, Biografías de los mandatarios y ministros de la Real Audiencia, 1671–1819 (1952), especially pp. 368-379.

Emilio Robledo, Bosquejo biográfico del Señor Oidor Juan Antonio Mon y Velarde, visitador de Antioquia (1785–1788) (1954).

Ann Twinam, Miners, Merchants, and Farmers in Colonial Colombia (1982).

Additional Bibliography

Borchart de Moreno, Christiana Renate. La Audiencia de Quito: aspectos económicos y sociales (siglos XVI-XVIII). Quito, Ecuador: Ediciones del Banco Centro del Ecuador, 1998.

                                       Allan J. Kuethe