Manuel Argüelles Argüelles (November 10, 1875, Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 – 1945) was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

. He served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Public Works

Minister of Public Works (Spain)

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport is the government ministry in Spain responsible for preparation and implementation of government policy on land transport infrastructure, air and maritime jurisdiction of state and control, management and regulation of administrative services transport,...

 during the reign of Alfonso XIII. He later served as Minister of Finance during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera

Miguel Primo de Rivera

Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, 22nd Count of Sobremonte, Knight of Calatrava was a Spanish dictator, aristocrat, and a military official who was appointed Prime Minister by the King and who for seven years was a dictator, ending the turno system of alternating...

.

He began his career in the Liberal-Conservative Party

Liberal-Conservative Party (Spain)

The Liberal-Conservative Party was a Spanish political party founded in 1876 by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. Its other names include Partido Conservador, Partido Canovista, Partido Silvelista, Partido Maurista and Partido Dadista.-Foundation:Castillo called it liberal due to the state system...

, obtaining a seat in the Congress of Deputies (Spain's lower house) representing the province of Oviedo

Oviedo

Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....

 in successive elections between 1907 and 1923.

He was Minister of Finance in the governments under Eduardo Dato and Manuel Allendesalazar, between March 13 and July 7, 1921, a post to which he would return between January 30 and August 20, 1930 under the government of Dámaso Berenguer

Dámaso Berenguer

Dámaso Berenguer y Fusté, Count of Xauen was a Spanish soldier and politician.Berenguer was born in San Juan de los Remedios, Cuba, while that island nation was still a Spanish province....

. He was also Minister of Public Works between March 8 and December 4, 1922 in the cabinet under José Sánchez Guerra

José Sánchez Guerra

José Sánchez Guerra y Martinez was a Spanish journalist, lawyer and Prime Minister. His term as Prime Minister lasted from March 8 to December 7 of 1922. He was a Conservative who has been described as "courageous" and "politically mediocre."-References:...

.