Mariano José Calvo

In the judicial sphere, by 1826 he held the position of agente fiscal of the Superior Court of Justice and also practiced as a lawyer before that tribunal. His career in the judiciary culminated with his appointment to the Supreme Court, from which he was already listed as a retired justice by 1841, receiving a pension of 1,000 pesos in recognition of his service.^[2]

In the political arena, he represented the department of Chuquisaca in the National Congress. On 20 October 1834, as a deputy, he signed the Constitution promulgated that year under the administration of General Andrés de Santa Cruz, actively participating in its deliberation and approval.^[3] Later, on 26 September 1837,^[4] he served as Vice President of the Chamber of Representatives, and on 1 July 1838, he continued acting as a representative for Chuquisaca.^[5]

After retiring from the judiciary, Calvo remained involved in public life. In 1851, during the government of General Manuel Isidoro Belzu, his name appears among the signatories of political manifestos supporting the regime, in a context of intense internal conflict against the faction of General José Ballivián.^[6]

On 6 October 1852, he was appointed a member of a permanent commission tasked with drafting the Civil, Penal, and Procedural Codes, as well as the corresponding organic law, working alongside other prominent jurists.^[7]

He later attained a central position in the legislative branch. He served as senator for Chuquisaca in 1854 and 1855, and was President of the National Congress from 5 August 1854, to 16 August 1855.^[8] During his presidency, he presided over the extraordinary sessions of Congress held in Oruro. In this context, on 1 February 1855, he chaired the session in which President Manuel Isidoro Belzu formally presented his resignation before the legislative body, delivering the following statement:

Therefore, after mature agreement and deliberate will, having in view the good of the nation and heeding the dictates of my conscience, I declare that, in accordance with the Constitution of the State, I make before you, gentlemen senators and representatives of the Bolivian people, a formal, spontaneous, and irrevocable resignation from the Constitutional Presidency of the Republic, to which I was called by the direct vote of all my fellow citizens. I solemnly protest that no consideration will compel me to continue performing a position that is unbearable to me; yes, utterly unbearable, a thousand and a thousand times unbearable.^[7]

After the Congress of 1855, Mariano José Calvo appears to have withdrawn completely from both political and legal life. He died in his native city of Sucre on 23 October 1859, leaving a significant legacy in Bolivia’s political and judicial spheres.

He married María Josefa Gómez y Martínez at the church of Santo Domingo in Sucre on April 9, 1826. She was the daughter of Miguel Francisco Gómez y González and Juana Martínez de Burela y Aguirre. The couple had the following children:

• Baldomero Calvo Gómez, born 27 March 1827, in Sucre. He married Avelina Arancibia on 5 July 1861, in the church of San Lázaro in Sucre.^[9]
• Wenceslao Calvo Gómez, born 6 November 1829, in Sucre. He married Edelmira Cárdenas Gallardo on 1 July 1875, in the church of San Sebastián in Sucre.^[10]
• Daniel Calvo Gómez, born 18 September 1832. He married Elisa de la Torre Cabero on 20 April 1856, in the church of San Lázaro in Sucre.^[11] He died in La Paz on 16 June 1880.
• Saturnino Calvo Gómez, born 6 December 1836, in Sucre. He was a lawyer and died unmarried.
• Nemesio Calvo Gómez, born 19 December 1840, in Sucre. He married Isabel Molina Frías on 15 February 1873, in the church of San Lázaro.^[12] His granddaughters were María Luisa and Carmen Sánchez Bustamante Calvo, and his great-grandson was Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Sánchez Bustamante. Among his descendants is also Marcelo Claure Bedoya. He died on 20 December 1904.