military officer, politician and poet.

Born in Las Palmas (Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

) on 17 February 1838 the son of captain Francisco Estévanez and of Isabel Murphy. Very young, in 1852, he entered the military academy in Toledo

Toledo, Spain

Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

 and participated in the northern African war of 1859–1860

Spanish-Moroccan War (1859)

The Hispano-Moroccan War, also known as the Spanish–Moroccan War, the First Moroccan War, the Tetuán War, or, in Spain, as the African War , was fought from Spain's declaration of war on Morocco on 22 October 1859 until the Treaty of Wad-Ras on 26 April 1860...

 where he served with distinction and was awarded Spain’s highest military honor, the Laureate Cross of St. Ferdinand (Cruz Laureada de San Fernando).

On 27 November 1871 he was stationed in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 with the rank of captain when he was ordered to carry out the execution of eight students who had been sentenced to death by a court martial who found them guilty of anti-Spanish activities and of vandalizing some tomb sites.

Estévanez refused to carry out the order saying “before my country come humanity and justice.” To this day, in the façade of the Hotel Inglaterra

Hotel Inglaterra

Hotel Inglaterra is the oldest hotel in Cuba and one of the most classic hotels in Havana. It is located at Paseo del Prado #416 between San Rafael and San Miguel in Havana, Cuba. The Hotel was founded on December 23, 1875 and built in neoclassic style...

 in Havana, Cuba, there is a plaque bearing his name and commemorating his refusal to carry out the orders of execution.

For this motive he was expelled from the army but he never apologized or renounced his actions and was always proud of what he did.

He participated in the revolution of September 1868

Glorious Revolution (Spain)

The Glorious Revolution took place in Spain in 1868, resulting in the deposition of Queen Isabella II.An 1866 rebellion led by General Juan Prim and a revolt of the sergeants at San Gil barracks, in Madrid, sent a signal to Spanish liberals and republicans that there was serious unrest with the...

 and joined the republican insurrection of 1869 for which he was imprisoned.

He later was elected member of parliament and was appointed minister in the cabinet of Pi y Margall

Francisco Pi y Margall

Francisco Pi y Margall was a liberal Spanish statesman and romanticist writer. He was briefly president of the short-lived First Spanish Republic in 1873.-Early life:...

 during the First Spanish Republic

First Spanish Republic

The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...

 but with the restoration of the monarchy he went into exile and died in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, on 21 August 1914.

Links in Spanish

• Nicolás Estévanez Murphy (1838-1914) at www.filosofia.org
• Nicolás Estévanez y la sombra del almendro at www.rinconesdelatlantico.com
• IZQUIERDA REPUBLICANA. Personajes Republicanos. at www.izqrepublicana.es
• Untitled Document at personal.telefonica.terra.es