Emilio Bonelli

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Emilio Bonelli y Hernando
Emilio Bonelli y Hernando, La Ilustración Española y Americana.jpg
Bonelli depicted in La Ilustración Española y Americana, 8 April 1885.
Born(1854-11-07)November 7, 1854
Zaragoza, Aragon
DiedNovember 28, 1926(1926-11-28) (aged 72)
Madrid
AllegianceSpain Kingdom of Spain
Service/branchSpanish Army
Years of service1875–1882

Don Emilio Bonelli y Hernando (7 November 1854 in Zaragoza, Aragon – 28 November 1926 in Madrid[1]) was a Spanish military officer, author, explorer, colonial administrator and Africanist.

Biography[]

Bonelli entered the Spanish Army in 1875 and attended the Toledo Infantry Academy, achieving the rank of ensign in 1878.[2] He left the Army in 1882, and undertook an expedition through the interior of Morocco, crossing the territory between Fez, Meknes and Tangier.[3]

In 1884, Bonelli commanded an expedition to take the territory of Río de Oro (Oued Edhahab),[4] occupying the Atlantic coast between Cape Bojador (Ras Bujadur) and Cape Blanco (Ras Nouadhibou)[5] and founding Villa Cisneros (Dakhla).[4] On 26 December 1884, the Kingdom of Spain declared 'a protectorate of the African coast', and on 14 January 1885 officially informed the other great powers in writing,[6] thereby establishing Spanish Sahara. In July 1885, Bonelli was appointed by King Alfonso XII to the newly created position of Royal Commissioner on the West Coast of Africa[7] (which would later be renamed as Political and Military Subgovernor of Río de Oro),[8] managing to establish peace with tribes in the area.[9]

In 1913, Bonelli was a founding member of the  [es], of which he was vice president.[10]

Works[]

Bonelli was the author of:[2]

  • El imperio de Marruecos y su constitución (1882)
  • El Sahara (1887)
  • Nuevos territorios españoles en África (1887)
  • El problema de Marruecos (1910)

References[]

  1. ^ "Don Emilio Bonelli Hernando". La Nación : Diario de la Noche (in Spanish). Madrid: La Nación: 4. ISSN 1132-046X.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Ramírez Verdún 2005, p. 109.
  3. ^ Fernández Rodríguez 1985, p. 171.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Blanco Vázquez 2012.
  5. ^ Salom 2003, p. 269.
  6. ^ Robert Rézette, The Western Sahara and the Frontiers of Morocco (Paris: Nouvelles Éditions Latines, 1975), p. 60.
  7. ^ Real decreto nombrando Comisario regio en la costa occidental de Africa á D. Emilio Bonelli (PDF) (in Spanish). Gaceta de Madrid núm. 196 de 15 de julio de 1885. p. 141.
  8. ^ Fernández Rodríguez 1985, p. 173.
  9. ^ Salom 2003, p. 271.
  10. ^ "Don Emilio Bonelli Hernando". Revista Hispano Africana (in Spanish). Madrid: Revista hispano-africana (23–24): 9. 1926. ISSN 2172-6191.

Bibliography[]

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