Pizarro, José Alonso (?–1755)

José Alonso Pizarro (Marqués del Villar; d. 1755), viceroy of the New Kingdom of Granada (1749–1753). A respected naval officer, Pizarro received the mantle of viceregal authority from Sebastián de Eslava (1740–1749) in Cartagena de Indias in November 1749. Shortly thereafter, Pizarro fell ill in Santa Fe de Bogotá. Because of inadequate medical care, his condition did not improve over the next several months. Consequently, the viceroy began in 1751 to request that he be replaced. The crown acceded to his request two years later and named José Solís Folch De Cardona (1753–1761) to succeed him.

As an administrator, Pizarro sought to develop the colony and enhance its viability. His policy initiatives focused on developing commerce and mining, colonizing the Magdalena River valley and Santa Marta province, promoting Jesuit evangelization and education, and pacifying the Chimila and Guajiro Indians. He did not leave a relación de mando (an official end-of-tenure report). He returned to Spain shortly after stepping down as viceroy.

See alsoNew Granada, Viceroyalty of .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A fine summary of Pizarro's administration appears in Sergio Elías Ortiz, Nuevo Reino de Granada: El virreynato, 1719–1753, in Historia extensa de Colombia, vol. 4, (1970). A valuable, though biased, description of both the potential and the problems facing New Granadan leaders at mid-century by a Jesuit connected with the Pizarro administration is Antonio Julián, La perla de la América: Provincia de Santa Marta (1951).

Additional Bibliography

Herrera Angel, Martha. Poder local, población y ordenamiento territorial en la Nueva Granada, siglo XVIII. Bogotá, D.C.: Arquivo General de la Nación, 1996.

                                      Lance R. Grahn