Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
| The Most Excellent Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo GE | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of Spain | |
| In office 25 February 1981 – 1 December 1982 | |
| Monarch | Juan Carlos I |
| Deputy | Rodolfo Martín Villa Juan Antonio García Díez |
| Preceded by | Adolfo Suárez |
| Succeeded by | Felipe González |
| First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain | |
| In office 9 September 1980 – 25 February 1981 | |
| Prime Minister | Adolfo Suárez |
| Preceded by | Fernando Abril |
| Succeeded by | Juan Antonio García Díez |
| Minister of Public Works | |
| In office 4 July 1976 – 1976 | |
| Prime Minister | Adolfo Suárez |
| Preceded by | Antonio Valdés González-Roldán |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Pérez de Bricio Olarriaga (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Leopoldo Ramón Pedro Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo 14 April 1926 Madrid, Spain |
| Died | 3 May 2008 (aged 82) Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain |
| Resting place | Ribadeo Cemetery, Galicia, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Political party | UCD |
| Spouse(s) | María del Pilar Ibáñez-Martín Mellado |
| Children | Leopoldo (b. 1957) Juan (b. 1958) María del Pilar (b. 1959) Pedro (b. 1960) Víctor María (b. 1961) José María (b. 1964) Andrés (b. 1965) Pablo (b. 1965) |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Leopoldo Ramón Pedro Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquis of the Ría of Ribadeo, Grandee of Spain (Spanish pronunciation: [leoˈpoldo ˈkalβosoˈtelo i βusˈtelo]; 14 April 1926 – 3 May 2008) was a Spanish political figure and prime minister during the period of transition after the end of Francisco Franco's regime.
Biography
Calvo-Sotelo was born into a prominent political family of and in Madrid on 14 April 1926 with his father Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo [1] as the writer and his mother Mercedes Marquez.[2] His uncle José Calvo Sotelo was the finance minister under Miguel Primo de Rivera.[2] Calvo-Sotelo graduated as a civil engineer from the School of Civil Engineers of Madrid now part of the Technical University of Madrid, working in the area of applications of chemistry to the industry.[2]
He was the president of RENFE (Spanish national railroad network) between 1967 and 1968. Calvo-Sotelo was elected solicitor (Deputy) of Franco's Cortes, representing industrialists in the Union of Chemical Industries, in 1971.[2] A monarchist, Sotelo was one of the founders of an association of politicians, mostly of Rightists and Center Rightists, which disguised as the Fedisa publishing firm helped Spain's peaceful transition into democracy.[2]
Calvo-Sotelo was designated Minister of Commerce by Carlos Arias Navarro to be in the first government of the Monarchy (December 1975 – July 1976).[2] He advocated total destruction of Franco's ideals instead of mere superficial changes that politicians like Navarro planned.[2] Calvo-Sotelo was kept in the cabinet of Adolfo Suárez upon his succession to premiership in 1976 and directed several centre-right and centre-left political associations into one party, the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD).[2] The UCD won in both the June 1977 and the March 1979 elections[2] and Calvo-Sotelo was elected MP for Madrid.
Suárez decided to keep him in the Cabinet, first from 1978 to 1980 as Minister for Relations of the European Economic Community, then as Second Vicepresident in charge of economic affairs.[2] After the resignation of Suárez on 29 January 1981, he was supposed to be appointed president (Presidente del Gobierno) on 23 February, and advocated Spain's proposed entry into NATO as soon as possible.[2] However, on that date a session of the Congress of Deputies was interrupted by the attempted coup of 23-F.[2] After the failed coup, his appointment as Prime Minister was confirmed on 25 February by the vote of all the UCD members of the congress and 21 others as well, giving him a majority of 186 to 158.[2] Splits in the UCD group led to the formation of three rival parties, the Democratic Action Party (Partido de Acción Democrática/PAD), which soon merged with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) and Democratic Popular Party (PDP), resulting in the UCD being unable to count on sufficient support in the legislature. Fresh elections were called, resulting in a heavy defeat for the UCD, which won only 12 seats at the 1982 election compared to 168 in 1979. He served as president until 1 December 1982 and was succeeded by the socialist Felipe González.[2]
In 2002, Calvo-Sotelo was raised into the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos of Spain and given the hereditary title of Marqués de la Ría de Ribadeo (Marquis of the Ría of Ribadeo), together with the dignity Grande de España (English: Grandee of Spain), this in honor for his service.[3][4]
Calvo-Sotelo was also a member of the Club of Madrid[5] and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering.
He was married to María del Pilar Ibáñez-Martín y Mellado and had eight children:
- Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín (b. Madrid, 4 September 1957), 2nd Marquess of Ría de Ribadeo, married to Cristina Egea y Gutiérrez-Cortines.
- Juan Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín (b. Madrid, 14 November 1958), married to Lucía Fernández y Cartuxo
- María del Pilar Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín (b. Madrid, 20 October 1959), married to Carlos Delclaux y Zulueta
- Pedro Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín (b. Madrid, 20 December 1960), married to María Alvarez-Cascos y Gómez de Arteche
- Víctor Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín (b. Madrid, 24 November 1961), unmarried and without issue
- José María Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín (b. Madrid, 2 May 1964), unmarried and without issue
- Andrés Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín (b. Lisbon, 14 August 1965), twin with the below, unmarried and without issue
- Pablo Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín (b. Lisbon, 14 August 1965), twin with the above, married to Elvira García-Bellido y Capdevilla
He died of cardiac arrest at his home in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, on 3 May 2008.[2]
Bibliography
- Mclean, Renwick (2006). "Spain Takes a Proud Look Back." International Herald Tribune. 24 February.
- Preston, Paul (1990). The Triumph of Democracy in Spain. London: Routledge.
- Rogers, Eamonn and Valerie Rogers, eds. (1999). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Spanish Culture. London: Routledge.
- Walker, Jane (2006). "The Day Freedom Was Put in Peril." The Irish Times. 23 February.
References
- ↑ Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1. marqués de Ría de Ribadeo GeneAll
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 "Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo: Post-Franco Prime Minister of Spain who survived an attempted coup and was determined to see the country join Nato". The Times (UK). 5 May 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
- ↑ Otras disposiciones BOE 25 June 2002
- ↑ El Rey nombra a Calvo-Sotelo marqués de la Ría de Ribadeo con Grandeza de España La Voz la Galicia
- ↑ Club of Madrid
External links
Media related to Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Adolfo Suárez |
.svg.png){kind=small} Prime Minister of Spain 1981–1982 |
Succeeded by Felipe González |
| Spanish nobility | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Marquis of the Ría of Ribadeo 2002–2008 |
Succeeded by Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo e Ibáñez-Martín |