Spanish politician (1926?2008)
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Calvo-Sotelo
and the second or maternal family name is
Bustelo
.
Leopoldo Ramon Pedro Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquess of Ria de Ribadeo
(
Spanish pronunciation:
[leo?poldo
?kalβoso?teloj
βus?telo]
; 14 April 1926 ? 3 May 2008), usually known as
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
, was
Prime Minister of Spain
between 1981 and 1982.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Calvo-Sotelo was born into a prominent political family in
Madrid
on 14 April 1926 with his father, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo,
[1]
and his mother, Mercedes Bustelo Marquez.
[2]
The assassination of his uncle,
Jose Calvo Sotelo
, who had been
finance minister
under
Miguel Primo de Rivera
, was a key event leading up to the Spanish Civil War.
[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
(the 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]
Political career
[
edit
]
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 a true transition to democracy instead of mere superficial changes that politicians like Navarro planned.
[2]
Calvo-Sotelo was kept in the
cabinet
of
Adolfo Suarez
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]
Calvo-Sotelo was part of the Tacito group in the cabinet along with
Eduardo Carriles
,
Andres Reguera
,
Landelino Lavilla
,
Enrique de la Mata
,
Marcelino Oreja
and
Alfonso Osorio
.
[3]
The UCD won in both the June 1977 and the March 1979 elections
[2]
and Calvo-Sotelo was elected MP for
Madrid
.
President of the Government of Spain
[
edit
]
Suarez 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 Suarez on 29 January 1981, he was supposed to be appointed Prime Minister (
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 Accion Democratica/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 Prime Minister until 1 December 1982 and was succeeded by the socialist
Felipe Gonzalez
.
[2]
Later years
[
edit
]
In 2002, Calvo-Sotelo was raised into the
Spanish nobility
by
King Juan Carlos of Spain
and given the hereditary title of
Marques de la Ria de Ribadeo
(
Marquess of Ria de Ribadeo
), together with the dignity
Grande de Espana
(English: Grandee of Spain), this in honour for his service.
[4]
[5]
Calvo-Sotelo was also a member of the
Club of Madrid
[6]
and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering.
He wrote several political autobiographical books:
Memoria viva de la transicion
(Living memory of the Spanish transition),
Papeles de un cesante
(Papers from an unemployed person), and
Platicas de familia (1878?2003)
(Family talks (1878-2003)).
[7]
He died of
natural causes
at his home in
Pozuelo de Alarcon
, on 3 May 2008 aged 82.
[8]
Personal life
[
edit
]
He was married to Maria del Pilar Ibanez-Martin y Mellado and had eight children:
- Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo e Ibanez-Martin (born 4 September 1957), 2nd Marquess of Ria de Ribadeo, married to Cristina Egea y Gutierrez-Cortines.
- Juan Calvo-Sotelo e Ibanez-Martin (born 14 November 1958), married to Lucia Fernandez y Cartuxo
- Maria del Pilar Calvo-Sotelo e Ibanez-Martin (born 20 October 1959), married to Carlos Delclaux y Zulueta
- Pedro Calvo-Sotelo e Ibanez-Martin (born 20 December 1960), married to Maria Alvarez-Cascos y Gomez de Arteche
- Victor Calvo-Sotelo e Ibanez-Martin (born 24 November 1961), unmarried and without issue
- Jose Maria Calvo-Sotelo e Ibanez-Martin (born 2 May 1964), unmarried and without issue
- Andres Calvo-Sotelo e Ibanez-Martin (born 14 August 1965), twin with the below, unmarried and without issue
- Pablo Calvo-Sotelo e Ibanez-Martin (born 14 August 1965), twin with the above, married to Elvira Garcia-Bellido y Capdevilla
General references
[
edit
]
- 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
[
edit
]
- ^
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1. marques de Ria de Ribadeo
GeneAll
- ^
a
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d
e
f
g
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m
n
"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.
Archived
from the original on 16 May 2008
. Retrieved
13 May
2008
.
- ^
Maria Cristina Palomares (2002).
The quest for survival after Franco: The moderate Francoists' slow journey to the polls (1964-1977)
(PhD thesis). London School of Economics and Political Science. p. 296. Archived from
the original
on 15 July 2021.
- ^
R., Juan Carlos
(25 June 2002).
Acebes Pinagua, Angel
(ed.).
"REAL DECRETO 591/2002, de 24 de junio, por el que se concede el titulo de Marques de la Ria de Ribadeo, con Grandeza de Espana, a don Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo"
(PDF)
.
Boletin Oficial del Estado
(151).
Ministerio de Justicia
: 2291
. Retrieved
10 May
2019
.
- ^
X. M. P. (25 June 2002).
"El Rey nombra a Calvo-Sotelo marques de la Ria de Ribadeo con Grandeza de Espana"
.
La Voz de Galicia
(in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 7 March 2016
. Retrieved
10 May
2019
.
- ^
"Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo ex Presidente de Espana miembro club madrid"
.
Club of Madrid
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
10 May
2019
.
- ^
"Monarquico y centrista, figura clave de la Transicion"
.
RTVE
. Retrieved
1 June
2024
.
- ^
Duran, Luis F.; Blasco, Pedro (3 May 2008).
"Fallece a los 82 anos el ex presidente del Gobierno Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo"
.
El Mundo
(in Spanish). Mundinteractivos, S.A
. Retrieved
10 May
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
at Wikimedia Commons
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