Quiroga (surname)
Encyclopedia
Quiroga is a Spanish surname; it originates from the valley and locality of Quiroga
Quiroga, Galicia
Quiroga is a municipality in the province of Lugo, part of the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain....

 in the province of Lugo
Lugo (province)
Lugo is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Ourense, Pontevedra, and A Coruña, the principality of Asturias, the State of León, and in the north by the Cantabrian Sea .The population is 356,595 , of...

 in the Galician region of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. Legend has it that in the year 715, a powerful knight defended the entrance to Galicia through the Valley of Quiroga from invasion by the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

. As weapons, he used iron-tipped stakes which are the basis for the Quiroga coat-of-arms; five silver stakes (spears) positioned vertically on a green (sinople
Sinople
Sinople was a term for a kind of red earth used as a pigment in antiquity.It can refer to:*sinople, also sinoper, a term for "red", and later "green" in heraldry, see Sinople...

) background.

The first recorded name of the Quiroga lineage is that of Vasco De Quiroga
Vasco de Quiroga
Vasco de Quiroga was the first bishop of Michoacán, Mexico and one of the judges in the second Audiencia that governed New Spain from January 10, 1531 to April 16, 1535....

 born in the year 1218 during the reign of Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III of Castile
Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...

, in the Valley of Quiroga. Branches from the house of Vasco De Quiroga extended through the districts of Monforte
Monforte de Lemos
Monforte de Lemos is a city and municipality in northwestern Spain, in the province of Lugo, Galicia. It covers an area of 200 km² and lies 62 km from Lugo. As of 2005 it had a population of 19,472. It is located in a valley between the shores of Sil River and Miño River, in the area...

, Mondoñedo
Mondoñedo
Mondoñedo is a small town and municipality in the Galician province of Lugo, Spain. , the town has a population of 4,508. Mondoñedo occupies a sheltered valley among the northern outliers of the Cantabrian Mountains.-History:...

, Chantada
Chantada
Chantada, is a municipality in the province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain....

, Quiroga
Quiroga, Galicia
Quiroga is a municipality in the province of Lugo, part of the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain....

, Lugo
Lugo
Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 97,635 in 2010, which makes is the fourth most populated city in Galicia.-Population:...

, and Sarria
Sarria
Sarria is a municipality in the province of Lugo, northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Sarria is the most densely populate town on the French Way in Galicia, with 13 700 inhabitants...

. New houses were established in these areas and also in the municipalities of Panton, Lancara
Láncara
Láncara is a municipality in Lugo Province in Galicia in north-west Spain. Láncara was the original hometown of Ángel Castro y Argiz, father of Cuban leaders Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro....

, and Cesuras
Cesuras
Cesuras is a municipality of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia....

; the parishes of Espasantes, Carballedo
Carballedo
Carballedo is a municipality in the Spanish province of Lugo....

, and Lamela; and extending through the regions of A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...

 and León
León (province)
León is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.About one quarter of its population of 500,200 lives in the capital, León. The weather is cold and dry during the winter....

 in northern Spain.

Some students of Judaism in Galicia point out that the name Quiroga originated from the flower in Galicia that's called Queiroga by Sephardic Jews to avoid persecution during the Inquisition.

Notable Quirogas throughout history

  • Juan Facundo Quiroga
    Juan Facundo Quiroga
    Juan Facundo Quiroga was an Argentine caudillo who supported federalism at the time when the country was still in formation.-Early years:...

     (1790–1835), Argentine leader of the Andean provinces
  • Ruy Vázquez de Quiroga, Grand Master of the Order of Alcántara
  • Rodrigo de Quiroga
    Rodrigo de Quiroga
    Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...

    , Captain General, Governor, Mayor of Chile
    Chile
    Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

  • Fray Alvaro de Quiroga, Abbot of the Monastery of Samos
    Samos Island
    Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...

  • Vasco de Quiroga
    Vasco de Quiroga
    Vasco de Quiroga was the first bishop of Michoacán, Mexico and one of the judges in the second Audiencia that governed New Spain from January 10, 1531 to April 16, 1535....

    , First Bishop of Michoacán
    Michoacán
    Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...

     (Mexico)
  • Rodrigo Lopez de Quiroga, governor of Milan
    Milan
    Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

  • Gaspar Rodríguez de Quiroga, Archbishop of Toledo
    Toledo, Spain
    Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

    , advisor to King Philip II of Spain
    Philip II of Spain
    Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

     and Grand Chancellor of Spain
  • Horacio Quiroga
    Horacio Quiroga
    Horacio Silvestre Quiroga Forteza was an Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer....

     (1878–1937), author of The Decapitated Chicken, The Exile, and others
  • Elena Quiroga
    Elena Quiroga
    Elena Quiroga de la Válgoma , was a Spanish writer and winner of the Premio Nadal. She was born in Santander, Cantabria and grew up on her father's estate in Barco de Valdeorras, Ourense. Growing up in the region, she felt intimately linked to Galicia...

     (1921–1995), writer, winner of Premio Nadal
    Premio Nadal
    Premio Nadal is a Spanish literary prize awarded annually by the publishing house Ediciones Destino, part of Planeta. It has been awarded every year on January 6 since 1944...

  • Ramon Quiroga
    Ramón Quiroga
    Ramón Quiroga Arancibia was an Argentine-born Peruvian international football goalkeeper, who was nicknamed "El Loco" in Peru and "Chupete" in Argentina. He obtained 40 caps playing for the Peru national football team. He began his career playing for the Argentine club Rosario Central...

    , Argentine-Peruvian footballer, 1978 Peruvian World Cup player
  • Raúl Quiroga
    Raúl Quiroga
    Raúl Nicolas Quiroga is a retired volleyball player from Argentina, who represented his native country in two Summer Olympics...

    , Argentine volleyball player who won the bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics
    1988 Summer Olympics
    The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

  • Rosita Quiroga, Argentine singer
  • Robert Quiroga
    Robert Quiroga
    Robert Quiroga was the International Boxing Federation Super flyweight champion from 1990 to 1993. Quiroga successfully defended his title five times and retired in 1995...

     (1969–2004), boxer

Quirogas and the New World

A notable Quiroga in the history of New Spain was Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 Vasco de Quiroga
Vasco de Quiroga
Vasco de Quiroga was the first bishop of Michoacán, Mexico and one of the judges in the second Audiencia that governed New Spain from January 10, 1531 to April 16, 1535....

 (1470–1565). He was famous for his personal crusade to aid the conquered peoples of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Rodrigo De Quiroga Lopez De Sober (1512) traveled to Chile in an expedition of conquest in the year 1540. He became one of the founders of the city of Santiago. He served the role of Mayor of Santiago in 1548, 1558, and 1560. He Founded the Convent of Merced
Mercy
Mercy is broad term that refers to benevolence, forgiveness and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social and legal contexts.The concept of a "Merciful God" appears in various religions from Christianity to...

 as a burial site for his future descendants and families. Rodrigo held many titles throughout his later years and died on February 25, 1580. He had an illegitimate daughter by the name of Isabel De Quiroga. He later married the mother Inés Suarez who was the first Spanish woman to arrive in Chile. Inés had been the faithful companion of Pedro Valdivia who led the expedition to Chile in 1540.

Several Quirogas traveled to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 in expeditions and later the house of Quiroga expanded through Chile as many of those travelers settled and created new branches. The most well known was Rodrigo De Quiroga, Mayor of Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

 in the late 16th century. Many Quirogas in Chile followed in his footsteps and became mayors of other cities throughout Chile in the 17th century.

In 1557 Juan De Losada y Quiroga traveled to Chile and became Governor of Ciudad De Los Confines (1560–1563), Constable Major of Santiago (1566). He was knighted to Knight of the Order of Santiago. As a General, he commanded the 500 reinforcements in the Battle of Arauco (1574) and died on May 19, 1575 aboard the ship Angel Gabriel in the gulf of the Island of Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

 en route to Chile.

His nephew Nicolás De Quiroga was on that expedition of 1575. Nicolás was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1579, 2nd Lieutenant Major in 1580, and later served as a High Justice. He was married in 1581 to Ana Farra Ferris De Gamboa and the two of them helped to propagate the Quiroga name throughout Chile. Nicolás was also a patron to the Convent of Merced.

Another notable Quiroga was born in 1878 in the river town of Salto, Uruguay
Salto, Uruguay
Salto is the capital city of the Salto Department in northwestern Uruguay and the second largest city of the country. It is located on Route 3, about northwest of Montevideo, and on the east bank of Río Uruguay, across the city Concordia of Argentina...

; his name was Horacio Quiroga. By the year 1900, the twenty- two-year-old was already published in various literary journals. Horacio published many stories including the following English translated anthologies "The Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories", "South American Jungle Tales", and "The Exile and Other Stories". Horacio was operated for prostate cancer in late 1936 and committed suicide a few months later.
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