ITURBIDE, AGUSTÍN. - Emperor of Mexico, b. 27 Sept. 1783 at Valladolid (present-day Morelia), d. 19 July 1824 at Padilla. Having entered the army, he rose to the rank of general. After 1820 he was one of the leaders of the independence movement and, having occupied Mexico City on 23 Sept. 1821, he became first president of the Governing Junta and then of the Regency. On 18 May 1822 he was proclaimed emperor of Mexico under the name Augustine I. In the following months, however, Colonel Santa Anna promoted an uprising against the new Empire and, once the republic was proclaimed in Dec. 1822, the very generals who had previously helped I. went over to the side of the rebels. I. was therefore forced to abdicate on 20 March 1823 and had to leave the country, after having always acted with respect and devotion toward the Church.
Congress designated Italy as his land of exile. Having arrived at Livorno on 20 Aug. 1823, I., after visiting Florence, intended to settle in Rome. Having appealed, after the death of Pius VII, to the college of cardinals so that he might be granted permission to reside in the Eternal City, he received from Msgr. Nazio, secretary of the Conclave, a refusal attributable to the pressure of the Marquis Vargas, ambassador of Spain to the Holy See, who accused him of having been chiefly responsible for Mexico's separation from Spain. He then went to London, where he received news of the sad conditions in which his homeland found itself. He therefore decided to return there and informed Congress of his intention to offer the aid of his arm and his possessions for the good of the country. Having disembarked, he was instead taken prisoner and shot by firing squad under a law that declared him a traitor and that had been issued in the meantime. His firstborn son of the same name served as a volunteer in the dragoon regiment of the pontifical army between 1860 and 1870 and was particularly dear to Pius IX.
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Silvio Furlani