caption death_date death_place birth_place image_size nationality party birth_date image article_title name
'' portrait of práxedes mateo sagasta '' 5 january 1903 madrid , spain torrecilla en cameros , logroño , spain 210px spanish liberal party 21 july 1825 práxedes mateo-sagasta y escolar.jpg práxedes mateo sagasta
 práxedes mateo sagasta
práxedes mateo sagasta

práxedes mariano mateo sagasta y escolar -lrb- 21 july 1825 -- 5 january 1903 -rrb- was a spanish civil engineer and politician who served as prime minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902 -- always in charge of the liberal party -- as part of the `` turno pacifico '' , alternating with the liberal-conservative leader antonio cánovas .
a freemason , he was known for possessing an excellent oratorical talent .
sagasta was born on 21 july 1825 at torrecilla en cameros , province of logroño , spain .
as a member of the progressive party while a student at the civil engineering school of madrid in 1848 , sagasta was the only one in the school who refused to sign a letter supporting queen isabel ii .
after his studies , he took an active role in government .
sagasta served in the spanish cortes between 1854 -- 1857 and 1858 -- 1863 .
in 1866 he went into exile in france after a failed coup .
after the spanish revolution of 1868 , he returned to spain to take part in the newly created provisional government .
he served as prime minister of spain during the spanish -- american war of 1898 -lrb- during which time spain lost its remaining colonies . -rrb-
sagasta agreed to an autonomous constitution for both cuba and puerto rico .
sagasta 's political opponents saw his action as a betrayal of spain ; they blamed him for the country 's defeat in the war and the loss of its island territories in the treaty of paris of 1898 .
he continued to be active in politics for another four years .
sagasta died on 5 january 1903 in madrid .
