Pedro Pidal, 1st Marquess of Villaviciosa de Asturias

Pedro José Pidal y Bernaldo de Quirós, 1st Marquess of Villaviciosa de Asturias, MP (2 November 1870 – 17 November 1941) was a Spanish peer, politician, mountaineer, writer, famed hunter and Olympic medalist. A visionary in the field of conservationism, he engineered the creation of Picos de Europa National Park in 1918 and was the first person to reach the summit of Naranjo de Bulnes, in 1904.[1]

The Most Excellent The Marquess of Villaviciosa de Asturias MP
Pictured in 1918
Personal details
Born	Pedro José Pidal y Bernaldo de Quirós 2 November 1870 Somió, Spain
Died	17 November 1941 (aged 71) Gijón, Spain
Spouse(s)	Jacoba Guilhou y Georgeault ​ ​ (m. 1892)​
Children	5
Mother	Ignacia Bernaldo de Quirós y González de Cienfuegos
Father	Alejandro Pidal y Mon

Medal record
Live pigeon shoot
Representing  Spain
Olympic Games
	1900 Paris	Individual competition

Pidal took second place in pigeon shooting at the 1900 Summer Olympics, an event now considered unofficial (the IOC has never decided which events were "Olympic" and which were not).[2] As a politician, he was a member of parliament for Belmonte de Miranda and Luarca, and was made senator for life in 1914.[3]

Early life

He was born in Somió as the first child of 12, son of Alejandro Pidal, who was President of the Congress of Deputies, Minister of Development and Director of the Royal Spanish Academy. His mother was Ignacia Bernaldo de Quirós, the daughter of the 7th Marquess of Campo Sagrado.[3]

Hunting

During his hunting career, he bagged five Cantabrian brown bears, a species he was one of the biggest experts in. Pidal was predominantly a mountain hunter, and enjoyed stalking rebecos and sarrios as well.

He is one of only four who have hunted all big-game species of the Spanish fauna (including the Iberian lynx and bear), the other three being the 11th Marquess of Valdueza, Carlos Rein and Infanta Alicia of Spain.[4]

He died in Gijón the 17 November 1941.[5]

Issue

On 10 October 1892, he married Jacqueline Guilhou, the daughter of Jean Antoine Numa Guilhou, a prominent French businessman. The ceremony took place at the chapel of the Mieres steel factory. They had five children:

• María Pidal y Guilhou
• Santiago Pidal y Guilhou, 2nd Marquess of Villaviciosa de Asturias (1894-1962)
• Pedro Pidal y Guilhou
• Alejandro Pidal y Guilhou
• Enrique Pidal y Guilhou

Royal montería with Prince Arthur and Alfonso XIII at El Pardo in 1908. Pidal is the fourth from the right

Titles

• 1st Marquess of Villaviciosa de Asturias[6]

Selected works

• La Caza del Oso en Asturias, KRK Ediciones, Oviedo, 1900.
• Picos de Europa: Contribución al Estudio de las Montañas Españolas, Ediciones Noega, Madrid, 1918.

See also

• List of big-game hunters

References

1. "110º aniversario de la primera ascensión al Naranjo de Bulnes". Desnivel.com (in Spanish). Desnivel. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
2. Lennartz, Karl; Teutenberg, Walter (1995). Olympische Spiele 1900 in Paris. Kassel, Germany: Agon-Sportverlag. p. 147. ISBN 3-928562-20-7. In many works, it is read that the IOC later met to decide which events were Olympic and which were not. This is not correct and no decision has ever been made. No discussion of this item can be found in the account of any Session.
3. Priego (2017). p. 47
4. Margarita Cavadas, "S.A.R. la Infanta Alicia celebra su 95 cumpleaños" in Cazavisión, 22 November 2012
5. Priego (2017). p. 173
6. Suplemento Al Elenco de Grandezas Y Titulos Nobiliarios Espanoles Apendice i Indice Alfabetico de Apellidos Del Primer Poseedor de la Merced Nobiliaria (1982) p. 55

Bibliography

• Priego, Count of (2017). Cazadores Españoles del Siglo XX. Turner Publicaciones. ISBN 978-84-16714-29-2.