Juan José Ruiz de Apodaca y Eliza, 1st Count of Venadito, OIC, OSH, KOC (3 February 1754 – 11 January 1835) was a Spanish Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the viceroy of New Spain from 20 September 1816 to 5 July 1821 during the Mexican War of Independence.
Military career
Ruiz de Apodaca was born in Cádiz into a family of renowned Basque merchants. He began his military career on 7 November 1767 as part of the marine guard, and three years after he was named frigate lieutenant, being continuously promoted until reaching the rank of naval lieutenant on 23 May 1778. At this time he also married Maria Rosa Gaston with whom he had seven children.
He sailed as a junior officer throughout the northern and the southern hemisphere on various ships. He was commissioned to go to Tahiti on the friguate Aguila, where he gathered much info about the area, drawing up charts of the island and its ports. He was promoted to frigate captain in 1781, and he was placed in charge of the Asuncion, joining the squadron led by Luis de Córdova y Córdova. Two years later he happened to be the commander who brought news of the end of the Anglo-French War to the Philippines, on the return trip to Spain taking silver and fruit.