Marcos Sergio Bautista Manuel de Lezama Leguizamón Sagarminaga (1862–1924) was a Spanish entrepreneur and politician who developed the family-owned mining conglomerate that controlled iron ore, carbon, fluorite, anhydrite and plaster mines in Vascongadas and Asturias, and politically supported the Traditionalist cause. In the 1910s he led the Carlist provincial organisation in Biscay but in 1919 he joined the breakaway Mellistas. His political career climaxed in 1921–1923, when he served two terms in the Senate. In 1907–1911 he held a seat in the Biscay self-government Diputación Provincial, and in 1893–1897 he was a member of Bilbao town hall.

Family and youth

The Lezama family is among the oldest in Vascongadas, traced back to the 12th century; one branch settled in Biscay.the Lezamas originated from Alava; one branch moved to Biscay in the Middle Ages, Juan José González, Bandera de la Anteiglesia de Lezama, Bilbao 2008, p. 8, available here Some of its representatives rose to high posts in Madrid;like alcalde de Madrid or members of Consejo de Castilla (both 17th century), Cesar Estornes, Los Lezama. Primera parte, [in:] Blog de Historia y Deportes 28.10.19 [link memoriasclubdeportivodebilbao blocked by WP] The Biscay branch, apart from having been among the largest landholders in the region, specialized as merchants and were army suppliers.Estornes 2019 The great-grandfather of Manuel, Juan Antonio de Lezama Jugo, was the first one to call himself Lezama Leguizamón; the surname incorporated the name of a related distinguished branch,the Leguizamón lineage was related to Etxebarri, currently a suburb of Bilbao, where they owned an iconic mansion, see Palacio Legizamon entry, [in:] Etxebarri municipal service, available here. The Leguizamons have been known especially for their role in conquest of America, see Cesar Estornes, Los Leguizamón el linaje más antiguo. Segunda parte, [in:] Blog de Historia y Deportes 30.09.19 [link memoriasclubdeportivodebilbao blocked by WP] which was about to extinguish.opinion of Guillermo Leguizamón Mayol at Esme, Mansiones de Getxo, [in:] Conoce Bilbao con Esme blog 17.07.15, available here The grandfather of Manuel, Gregorio Lezama Leguizamón Eguia (1781–1857), was the one who transformed the family into business tycoons. Though one of the largest terratenientes in Biscay,Joseba Agirreazkuenaga, Vizcaya en el siglo XIX: las finanzas publicas de un estado emergente, Lejona 1989, , p. 34 he turned major protagonist of the industrial revolution in the province. Initially owner of an ironworks mill,so-called Molino Zubiondo, locatated at the left bank of the Nervion in Etxebarri, the mill was originally the property of the Leguizamón family. It passed to the Lezamas when the families merged, some time prior to the mid-18th century, Molino Zubiondo entry, [in:] Etxebarri municipal service, available here he engaged in industrial-scale iron mining, made possible thanks to the introduction of Bessemer converters and the richest vein of iron ore in Europe, located in Biscay. In the mid-19th century he obtained a number of mining concessions and in the 1850s formed an emergent new social class of industrial moguls.Agirreazkuenaga 1989, p. 308

The youngest son of Gregorio, Manuel Lezama Leguizamón Aldama (1817Antonio Castejón, Los Lezama, [in:] Euskalnet service, available here–1884La Correspondencia de España 19.05.84, available here), inherited part of the family business and developed it further on. He kept obtaining new mining concessions, counted among “destacados miembros de las élites bilbaína” and owned one of the most successful industrial conglomerates in Biscay. He married María Concepción Sagarminaga Zabala, descendant to a less affluent, but prestigious Basque family. The couple had two sons, Manual born as the older one.Antonio Castejón, Los Lezama, [in:] Euskalnet service, available here Nothing is known about his early education; later he was prepared to take over the family business and at an unspecified time, though most likely in the early 1880s, he studied law and was later referred to as "abogado".Cesar Estornes, Los Leguizamón el linaje más antiguo. Segunda parte, [in:] Blog de Historia y Deportes 30.09.19 Following the death of their father, Manuel and Luis set up Hijos de Lezama Leguizamón company, which owned the family business; The brothers inherited , most of which went to Manuel.Luisa Utanda Moreno, Francisco Feo Parrondo, Propiedad rústica en Vizcaya, [in:] Lurralde 19 (1996), available here

In 1892El Correo Espanol 07.12.92, available here Manuel married María de la Soledad Ampuero y del Río (1871).María de la Soledad Margarita Aurelia Josefa Pía Francisca Antonia Ampuero Río entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here-1938Pensamiento Alaves 23.01.38, available here). She was daughter to a landholder and Carlist politician, longtime member of the provincial diputacion and a Biscay personality, José María Ampuero Jáuregui, also heiress to in Biscay.Luisa Utanda Moreno, Francisco Feo Parrondo, Propiedad rústica en Vizcaya, [in:] Lurralde 19 (1996), available here The couple initially settled at the Lezama estate in Etxebarri, which was eventually inherited by Manuel. Later they moved to Calle de Estufa in Bilbao, though they used to spend summers at the Ampuero estate in Durango.Cesar Estornes, Los Leguizamón el linaje más antiguo. Segunda parte, [in:] Blog de Historia y Deportes 30.09.19 They had no children. The best-known of Manuel's relatives was his younger brother Luis Lezama Leguizamón Sagarminaga, who was also an entrepreneur who in the early 1930s served as the provincial Carlist leader in Biscay. Manuel's nephews served as requeté during the Civil War and Fernando Lezama Leguizamón Zuazola was active in Carlism until the late 1960s.Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta, El naufragio de las ortodoxias : el carlismo, 1962–1977, Pamplona 1997, , p. 100. Manuel's brother-in-law, José Joaquín Ampuero y del Río, was a Basque business tycoon and Traditionalist politician.

Entrepreneur

With his brother Luis, Manuel was co-owner of Hijos de Lezama Leguizamón-Negocios de Minería, the company that owned the inherited business; it consisted of opencast iron ore mines in EtxebarriHijos de Lezama Leguizamón operated at least one mine, named Carmen, in Etxebarri, Puente del ferrocarril minero de Gandarias, [in:] municipal service of Basauri, available here and Ollargan.Juan Peris Torner, Ferrocaril minero de Ollargan a Echevarri, [in:] Ferrocariles de España servoce, 07.05.12, available here Until the late 1890s, the Lezamas were granted five more mining licenses; three were in the Bilbao area, one in Gueñes and one in Triano.Gabriel Ramallal, Las minas de hierro de Villaodrid: El fracaso de un proyecto extraordinario, Madrid 2020, , p. 95 and ranked as sixth-most successful concessionaires in Biscay.in the period of 1886–1898 the companies granted most concessions were: Ybarra hermanos (22), Chávarri hermanos (12), Luchana Mining (8), C.M. Ustara (7), J.C. Levisson (6), Lezama Leguizamon (5), and J. B. Cortes (5), Ramallal 2020, p. 95 At the end of the 19th century, they attempted to restructure their mining portfolio; in 1895 the brothers sold Sociedad Coto Minero de Ollargan.the sale price was 1m ptas, Juan Peris Torner, Ferrocaril minero de Ollargan a Echevarri, [in:] Ferrocariles de España service, 07.05.12, available here and in the early 1900s, they received the first anthracite mining concessions in Asturias. In 1903 the Lezamas requested (and obtained) concession for a mine named Demasía a Colunga in Asturias, in the Carrandi area.Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Oviedo 10.10.03, available here Apart from new licenses in Biscay,Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Oviedo 15.04.05, available here in the 1910s the Lezamas obtained further concessions in Asturias. In 1915 the Lezamas were noted expoiting another mine, Encarnación, near Carrandi.Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Oviedo 09.07.15, available here along with coal, they also mined fluorites,in the Ribadasella mine near Oviedo, Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Oviedo 24.11.15, available here plaster and anhydrite deposits.Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Oviedo 24.01.16, available here