Manuel Pardo

Manuel Justo Pardo y Lavalle (August 9, 1834 – November 16, 1878) was a Peruvian politician who served as the 20th President of Peru. He was the first civilian President in Peru's history. Biography Born into an aristocratic family of Lima, Peru, his father, Felipe Pardo y Aliaga, was a diplomatist and his mother, Petronila de Lavalle y Cabero, daughter of the 2nd Count of Premio Real. He was educated at four schools: Commercial School of Valparaíso, National Institute of Chile, College of Our Lady of Guadalupe and San Carlos Convictorium. Lavalle studied philosophy at University of Barcelona and economics and literature at the Collège de France. Pardo was Minister of Finance from 1865 to 1867. He was director of Public-Benefit Society of Lima (1868) and Mayor of Lima (1869–1870). On 24 April 1871, he founded the Civilista Party, the most important political party of the Aristocratic Republic. He was elected president by the Peruvian Congress after a failed coup launched by colonel Tomás Gutierrez.