Tomas Gutierrez (7 March 1817-26 July 1872) was Supreme Leader of Peru from 22 to 26 July 1872, succeeding Jose Balta and preceding Francisco Diez Canseco.
Biography[]
Tomas Gutierrez was born in Huancarqui, Peru in 1817, the brother of Silvestre Gutierrez, Marceliano Gutierrez, and Marcelino Gutierrez. He served in the Peruvian Army and participated in Ramon Castilla's liberal revolution before helping suppress Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco's conservative uprising from 1856 to 1868. He went on to serve as a liberal deputy from 1858 to 1859, and he fought in the First Ecuadorian-Peruvian War from 1857 to 1860. He later supported Miguel de San Roman and Juan Antonio Pezet's governments, and he fought against Mariano Ignacio Prado's revolution in 1865. He was demoted to a simple soldier for his support of Pezet against Pedro Diez Canseco, and he and his brothers fought at the 1866 Battle of Callao. Gutierrez later joined Castilla's revolution in defense of the constitution of 1860, and he participated in the 1867 uprising against Prado before fighting against Jose Balta's revolution. While Balta promoted him to Inspector General of the Army as a peace offering, Gutierrez seized power in a 1872 coup as Balta ceded power to Manuel Pardo, who was to be Peru's first civilian president. The public resisted the coup, and Silvestre was killed. Marceliano responded by having Balta murdered, and the atmosphere turned against the brothers. Only Marceliano survived the ensuing violence, and Tomas was killed.