Antonio María Pérez de Olaguer Feliu (1907–1968) was a Spanish writer and a Carlist militant. As a man of letters he was recognized by his contemporaries for travel literature, novel and drama, gaining much popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. Today he is considered mostly a typical representative of early Francoist culture and his works are denied major value. As a Carlist he remained in the back row, though enjoyed enormous prestige among the Catalan rank and file. For decades he worked to bridge the gap between two groups of Catalan Carlists, the Javieristas and the Sivattistas.
Family and youth
Antonio Pérez de Olaguer descended from distinguished families both along the paternal and the maternal line. The ancestors of his father originated from Andalusia; his grandfather, Manuel Pérez Marqueti (1829-1889),Manuel Joseph Valerio María de los Dolores Marcos Pérez Maqueti entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here came from Cádiz.and married Augustina Samanillo Fragoso, also from Cádiz, Antonio Pérez de Olaguer, Mi padre, un hombre de bien, Sevilla 1967, p. 41. A physician serving in the navy, in the mid-19th century he engaged in trade with the Philippines, then managed state contracts in the islands, and eventually developed own retail and real estate business in Manila. He became one of the Philippine tycoons and left a fortune.his wealth was estimated at 2m pesos, El Día 02.08.89, available here The business was inherited by his sons: Antonio's father Luis Pérez Samanillo (1868–1936) and Rafael, who enlarged it further on managing two family-owned companies, R. Pérez Samanillo y Cía and Pérez Samanillo Hermanos.see Filipinas Photo Collection, [in:] Skyscrapercity forum (link unavailable as blacklisted by Wikipedia) They contributed to urbanization of Manila; the brothers owned much of the Paco district, dried the area and commenced residential development; a street in the city still bears their name.Hotel de Oriente: the hotel that became a library, [in:] The Crafty Historian blog 01.09.14, available here One of few art-decó buildings in Manila used to be their department store.designed by Andres Luna de San Pedro and built in 1928, it was known as Edificio Perez-Samanillo. Now it is known as First United Building, see wikimapia service, available here
Antonio's maternal ascendants were related to overseas; his great-great-grandfather Antonio Olaguer Feliu Heredia served as virrey del Rio de la Plata, his son and Antonio's great-grandfather José Olaguer Feliu Azcuenaga opted for Argentine nationality;Francisca de Olaguer-Feliu Ramirez entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here. Some other online services provide wrong data, see e.g. NN de Olaguer Feliú y Ramirez entry, [in:] Geni genealogical service, available here his son and Antonio's grandfather José María Olaguer Feliu Dubonet (1827-1881) was born and lived in the Philippines.birth and death dates are quoted after José María de Olaguer-Feliu y Dubonet entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here, which seemes to be a well-informed source. Information about his birth place – somewhat odd compared to itinerary of his father, related to Spain and Argentina, though still possible – is repeated after Tomás Makintach Calaza, Memorial genealogico, histórico, y heraldico de la casa de Azcuenaga, [in:] Genealogia. Revista del Instituto Argentino de Ciencias Genealogicas 17 (1977), p. 157, the source which wrongly quotes his death date as 1857 His son and Antonio's maternal uncle general José Olaguer Feliú Ramirez became the minister of war in 1922 and later remained active as a primoderiverista politician. His daughter and Antonio's mother, Francisca de Olaguer Feliú Ramirez (1865–1908),Francisca de Olaguer-Feliu Ramirez entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here, Perez de Olaguer 1967, p. 120 also born and raised in the Philippines,Antonio Pérez de Olaguer Feliu himself provides a different maternal ancestry line. According to his own account, the virrey Antonio Olaguer Feliu Heredia was his great-grandfather (not great-great-grandfather); his son was a „José Olaguer Feliu” (grandfather, no closer information provided) who married Ladislaa Ramirez; their daughter was Francisca Olaguer Feliu Ramirez (mother), see Pérez de Olaguer 1967, p. 88. It would be odd not to trust a first-hand account, yet the dates seem incompatible. The birth date of Antonio Olaguer Feliu Heredia (1742) and this of his alleged granddaughter Francisca (1865) would have been separated by some 120 years married Luis Pérez; the couple settled in Manila.
The collapse of Spanish rule in 1898 did not affect the Pérez business much. However, Luis started to invest in Spain, mostly in Catalonia. In the early 20th century the family permanently settled in a luxury Barcelona residence,Caras y Caretas 20.01.12, available here managing their overseas economy remotely.he was animating Cámara de Comercio Española de Filipinas, Vida Marítima 30.01.21, available here They had 9 children, some of them born in the Philippines; Antonio was the youngest one.Luis Pérez Samanillo entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here There is almost no information on his childhood and early teenage years, except that he was raised in Barcelona and very early orphaned by his mother. As in 1911 his father remarried with Asunción Lladó (1884-1963),Asunción Lladó Rarmírez entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here. Asuncion was a step-sister of his late wife Francisca. Francisca's father died early and the widowed Francisca's mother re-married with Isidro Lado. Their daughter was Asuncion, Perez de Olaguer 1967, pp. 88-89 Antonio was brought up by his step-mother. He studied commerce in an unidentified Jesuit institution;Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana, Suplemento Annual 1967-1968, Madrid 1968, p. 392, referred after Antonio Pérez de Olaguer y Feliu, [in:] La Tradicio de Catalunya service, available here and travelled heavily, accompanying his father during voyages to the Philippines. Later he inherited at least part of the overseas business.with income from the Philippine business Perez did not depend on his literary production. It is not clear when the family shut down the overseas engagements; the iconic Manila building, Edificio Perez-Samanillo, was sold to the Americans in the early 1960s
In the late 1920s or very early 1930sin 1928 the future wife was already very close with the Perez family, La Vanguardia 04.11.28, available here; their 3rd child was baptised in December 1934, ABC 11.12.34, available here Antonio married Sara Moreno Calvo y Ortega (1905-1968).she died 2 months after her husband, La Vanguardia 25.04.68, available here She was the daughter of an Andalusian winegrowerJosep Armengol i Segú, El poder de la influencia: geografía del caciquismo en España (1875-1923), Madrid 2001, , p. 35 and Liberal cacique Guillermo Moreno Calvo;he was the civil governor of the Huelva province in 1911 and later joined the Canalejista faction, María Antonia Peña Guerrero, Clientelismo Político y Poderes Periféricos Durante la Restauración: Huelva, 1974-1923, Huelva 1998, , pp. 94, 314, 423. In 1910-1923 he served in the Cortes, see his entry on the official Cortes site, available here he passed into history when later sub-secretary of the Lerroux cabinet,ABC 11.12.34, available here becoming the key protagonist of the 1935 Nombela affair.for details see Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo, Guinea durante la II República. El „escandalo Nombela”, [in:] Endoxa 37 (2016), pp. 101-119 The couple settled at calle Muntaner in Barcelona;César Alcalá, D. Mauricio de Sivatte. Una biografía política (1901-1980), Barcelona 2001, , p. 52 they had 5 children, all of them sonsin an interview shortly before death Pérez de Olaguer admitted "cinco hijos", see La Vanguardia 14.06.67, available here. However, a well-informed genealogical service claims he had also one daughter, see Antonio Maria Pérez de Olaguer Feliu entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here and all cultivating literary interest of their father in editorial, publishing, theatrical and librarian fields.La Vanguardia 14.06.67, available here The best-known of them, Gonzalo Pérez de Olaguer Moreno, became an iconic personality of the Catalan theatre and drama. Antonio livedPérez de Olaguer was of rather good health, as certified by his constant travelling. His death came entirely unexpected and is attributed to a sudden heart attack, La Vanguardia 30.03.68, available here to see 17 grandchildren.La Vanguardia 14.06.67, available here
Writer