José María Ampuero Jáuregui (1837-1917) was a Spanish Carlist politician. In 1881-1884 he served one term in the lower house of the Cortes,éMaríaAmpueroJá in 1907-1913 during two terms he held the Senate ticket, and during a few separate strings between the 1880s and the 1910s he was a member of the Biscay provincial self-government, diputación. At the turn of centuries acting as second-in-command of the Biscay party organization, in the mid-1910s he was briefly a member of the Carlist national executive. Currently he is known mostly as fervent advocate of Basque culture and separate Basque provincial establishments, which he promoted as publisher, organizer and politician.
Family and youth
The first known ascendant of José María was Pedro Ampuero Ajo, who in 1704 integrated numerous possessions in Asturias into one mayorazgo. One branch of the Ampueros settled in Biscay, grew to major landholders, inter-married with other prestigious families, and were already known as “notoria familia vizcaína”. The paternal grandfather of José María, Pedro María Ampuero Musaurieta, in the 1810s served as the first constitutional alcalde of Bilbao. He married his cousin from the Durango-based Maguna family; its representatives commanded tercios in Flanders, one was the founder of Montevideo and another served as governor of Buenos Aires. Durango became the family nest of the branch, centred upon the mansion known as Eche Zuria Palace. Apart from rural landholdings, the principal source of family wealth, the father of José María, José Joaquín Ampuero Maguna, constructed and owned numerous buildings in Bilbao and surroundings. In the 1820s and the 1830s he held various municipal and provincial posts, e.g. serving in the Bilbao ayuntamiento or as the Biscay regidor.
Ampuero Maguna married Genara Jáuregui Elguezabal, descendant to a prestigious Bilbao family; the couple had 5 children, born between 1829 and 1840. José María was the second one in sequence and the only son who survived early childhood. Close to nothing is known of his early years, except that he was growing up in wealth and as the only male heir of the family; according to hagiographic obituary notes, living mostly at the Eche Zuria estate since youth he demonstrated vivid interest in the history of his family, Durango, Biscay and Vascongadas. None of the sources consulted provide any information on his education and it is not clear whether, and if yes where and when he pursued an academic career. Sporadically he was later referred in the press as “distinguido abogado”, which might suggest his law studies, probably in the late 1850s. In the early 1860s he resided in Durango, aspiring to public posts and taking over the family economy.
In 1870 Ampuero married María Milagro del Río y Aguero, the native of Madrid though related also to Burgos. The couple settled in the family residence in Durango; they had 7 children, born in the 1870s and 1880s. María del Carmen died in infancy and Antonio in his youth. José Joaquín succeeded his father in politics; as a Traditionalist in the 1910s and 1920s he served in the Biscay diputación, in the Congress and in the Senate, becoming also the local business tycoon. María de la Soledad married a Carlist politician, deputy mayor of Bilbao and senator Manuel Lezama Leguizamón. Most of Ampuero's grandchildren engaged in business and held executive posts in various companies, though the best known one, Casilda Ampuero Gandarias, married general José Enrique Varela and supposedly influenced him towards Carlism. Her daughter and the great-granddaughter to Ampuero Jáuregui, Casilda Varela Ampuero, married a guitar virtuoso, Paco de Lucía. Some of Ampuero's great-great-grandchildren are known as business moguls and at times attract media attention.