author
comte de Premio-Real
1840–1888
An aristocrat, diplomat, and man of letters, he brought a strikingly wide range of interests to his writing, from trade and politics to aphorisms and travel. Best known in Quebec as Spain’s consul general in the late 19th century, he left behind work shaped by both public life and curiosity about the wider world.
1 Audiobook
Saint-Pierre & Miquelon
by comte de Premio-Real
About the author
Born in Jerez de la Frontera on August 19, 1840, José Antonio de Lavalle Romero-Montezuma was a Spanish nobleman known as the Count of Premio Real. He served as Spain’s consul general for the Dominion of Canada and other British and French possessions in North America, and he was posted in Quebec from late 1874 until his death in 1888.
He wrote on international trade and overseas territories, with works including Commerce entre l'Espagne et ses provinces ultramarines et les provinces étrangères and Saint-Pierre & Miquelon. He is also remembered for Iberian Aphorisms, a compact collection that mixes his own reflections with traditional sayings, showing a more personal and literary side.
Accounts of his life describe him as unusually versatile: alongside diplomacy and writing, he was associated with research and broad intellectual interests that ranged across architecture, civil engineering, mathematics, music, and patronage. That blend of worldly experience and restless curiosity helps explain why his work still feels distinctive today.