Early life

Born in Cádiz on 26 November 1822, his father had Italian origin.^[1] He was a feeble child during infancy.^[1] He took studies at the Colegio de San Pedro and later the Colegio de San Felipe Neri.^[2]

Already writing as teenager for the newspaper El Defensor del Pueblo, he later wrote for La Alborada, as well he authored 3 theatre pieces.^[3]

Working since 1840 for the municipal beneficence office,^[4] he was hired as teacher at San Felipe Neri in 1848 (soon starting to publish grammar books),^[5] and as lecturer on Geodesy and Astronomy at the Naval Observatory in San Fernando (1857).^[6]

Sexenio Democrático

After the 1868 Glorious Revolution, Benot became a member of the Constituent Cortes formed upon the 1869 election in representation of the district of Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz),^[7] overcoming Juan Prim at the election,^[3] although Prim was elected anyway as he was candidate in another district.

He was one of the supporters of a manifesto promoted by Francisco Pi y Margall on 10 May 1870 which reaffirmed on "pactist" federalism, in response to the so-called "Declaration of the Republican Press" (published on 7 May 1870), which attempted to resignify federalism as a simple administrative decentralization.^[8] He was later elected Senator in representation of the province of Girona in the 1872–1873 period.^[9]

Following the proclamation of the First Spanish Republic in February 1873, he earned again a seat at the Congress of Deputies in representation of the district of Algeciras (Cádiz) at the May 1873 election.^[10] He was appointed as Minister of Development of the executive power presided by Pi y Margall in June 1873.^[11]

His short ministerial tenure, barely 17 days, delivered the creation of the Instituto Geográfico y Estadístico (predecessor to both the National Geographical Institute and the National Statistics Institute), and the draft of the Ley de 24 de julio 1873, sobre el trabajo en los talleres y la instrucción en las escuelas de los niños obreros (published after his exit from government), the so-called "Benot Law" regulating child labour, entailing the first State intervention in labour relations ever in Spain.^[12][13] The law failed to be effectively enforced, however.^[12] He also forced ayuntamientos to pay for teachers' wage arrears.^[14][13] He was replaced by Ramón Pérez Costales at the ministerial portfolio.^[11]

He exiled after the 1874 coup of Pavía to Portugal, where he began to edit the bi-weekly La Europa, only to return to Madrid some time later, as Cánovas del Castillo achieved, via a requirement for expulsion to the Portuguese authorities, the forced return to Spain of Benot.^[15][14]

Later life

Caricature of Benot by Moya (Madrid Cómico)

Already a correspondent member of the Royal Spanish Academy since 1860,^[16] he was later elected as numerary member, taking possession of the Chair Z on 14 April 1889, reading ¿Qué es hablar? a speech replied by Víctor Balaguer.^[17] His contributions to Spanish grammar have received diverse and lavish praises, but they tend to agree in pointing out the "modernity" of his approaches, sometimes even considered to be a "direct precursor" of "modern linguistics".^[18]

Benot would return to the Lower House, elected in representation of Madrid at the 1893 election.^[19]

He replaced Pi y Margall at the helm of the Federal Democratic Republican Party when the latter died.^[15] He could not however avoid the fracture of the party in May 1905.^[20] Catalanist republicans would reject from then on the insertion within the main stem of the Spanish left-wing.^[21]

Burial procession of Benot in Madrid

Ill and progressively blind since 1901, he died poor at Calle del Marqués de Villamagna 6, Madrid, on 27 July 1907.^[22][23] The funeral procession that took place on the next day was attended by Picón, Fernández y González, Azcárate, Salmerón and Labra and by an attendance formed chiefly by republican sympathizers.^[24] Benot was buried at the Civil Cemetery in the Necrópolis del Este, in the same tomb Pi y Margall had been initially buried prior to the transfer of its corpse to a specific mausoleum funded via popular subscription.^[24]