An Extraordanary Atlantic Life: Sebastiaan Nicolaas Calvo de la Puerta Y O'Farrill, Marquaes de Casa-Calvo

Although not widely known in Louisiana, Sebastiaan Calvo de la Puerta was an interim governor for two years (1799-1801), during an era that most historians have ignored. He came from a Spanish family that settled in Havana in the sixteenth century. It gradually became very wealthy because of sugar, but Sebastiaan chose a military career and gradually rose to the rank of general. The study reveals Spanish settlement in Cuba, Cuba’s importance in the Spanish empire, Spain’s economic and military decline, the French invasion of Spain (1808-1813), and Sebastiaan’s last years in Paris. All this is accomplished despite leaving virtually no personal papers or even a picture of himself. The study helps to clarify who this person was and the times in which he lived.