José María Gutiérrez de Estrada (17 October 1800 – 17 May 1867), was a Mexican conservative diplomat, minister, and senator. He came from the state of Yucatan, where his brother, Joaquín Gutiérrez de Estrada, also a conservative politician, would go on to become governor. Estrada was one of the most prominent Mexican monarchists having written an essay advocating such a government in 1840. Almost two decades later in 1863, he headed the delegation that offered the Mexican throne to Maximilian of Habsburg at Miramare Castle. Youth and Early Political Career José María Gutiérrez was born on October 17, 1800, to a wealthy Yucatecan family which allowed him to receive a formal education in Mexico City. At the age of twenty eight, he was sent by president Guadalupe Victoria on a diplomatic mission, serving under the Ministry of Foreign relations headed by Lucas Alaman. He was given the responsibility of delivering the signatures to the treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation between the newly established Mexican Republic and Holland. He would turn in his report on the matter to Foreign Minister José María Bocanegra in 1829. At this time he also married to the sister of José Justo Gómez de la Cortina, thus uniting two families of great wealth. In 1831, he was elected senator for the state of Yucatan and as he belonged to the Conservative Party he gained the enmity of congressional Liberals, particularly Manuel Crescencio García Rejón. Owing to his politics, in 1833 he was among those exiled by the liberal president Valentin Gomez Farias. He gained certain fame for his literary talents, a fame which was promoted by the friends he made in Mexico, and through the connections he made through his wife’s family, which played an important role in the cultural life of Mexico in the first half of the nineteenth century. These connections helped him be named the Minister of Foreign relations, by president Santa Anna in 1835, a position which would prove to be the height of his political career. Foreign Minister Estrada sought to conlidate Mexico’s foreign relations among the nations of Europe. By the time he was appointed minister, Mexico had only attained recognition on the American continent from the United States and Peru and in Europe from England, Holland, France, Prussia and the Holy See. He aimed at establishing relations with Spain which had yet to recognize the independence of Mexico.