Niceto Alcalá-Zamora
Encyclopedia
Niceto Alcalá-Zamora y Torres (6 July 1877 – 18 February 1949) was a Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
lawyer and politician who served, briefly, as the first premier minister of the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
, and then — from 1931 to 1936—as its president.
Family background
Alcalá-Zamora was born in Priego de CordobaPriego de Córdoba
Priego de Córdoba is a town and municipality of southern Spain in the extreme southeastern portion of the province of Córdoba, near the headwater of the Guadajoz River, and on the northern slope of the Sierra de Priego. The population in 2008 was 22,558....
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, son of Manuel Alcalá-Zamora y Caracuel (brother of Gregorio (d. Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, 28 February 1894) and Luis (1833 - 1873)) and wife Francisca Torres y del Castillo (sister of Gloria, married to José de Torres y Ortega (b. Valdepeñas
Valdepeñas
Valdepeñas is a municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is also the seat of the judicial district that covers the localities of Moral de Calatrava, Santa Cruz de Mudela, Viso del Marqués, Torrenueva, Castellar de Santiago and...
, 13 March 1833), and Enriqueta), paternal grandson of Gregorio Alcalá-Zamora y García and wife ... Caracuel y ... and maternal grandson of Juan Manuel Torres y Baro and wife ... del Castillo y ....
Personal life
He was married to his cousin ... del Castillo y ..., and had issue:- Niceto Alcalá-Zamora y Castillo (1906 - 1985), married to Ernestina Queipo de Llano y Martí, ironically the daughter of one of his father's political adversaries Gonzalo Queipo de LlanoGonzalo Queipo de LlanoGonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sierra, 1st Marquis of Queipo de Llano, a title bestowed upon him, to crown his professional career at the service of the "New" Spain forged by Dictator of Spain, 1939 - 1975, General Francisco Franco on 1 April 1950, once he had decided Spain would be again a Kingdom...
y Sierra (TordesillasTordesillasTordesillas is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain.It is located 25 km southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 meters. The population was c. 9,000 in 2009....
, 5 February 1875 - Sevilla, 9 March 1951), 1st MarquessMarquessA marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...
of Queipo de Llano, and wife (m. 4 October 1901) Genoveva Martí y Tovar, and had issue:- José Alcalá-Zamora y Queipo de Llano, married to Aurora Horfelina Fernández y Mier (1 October 1942 - 29 May 2008), daughter of Vicente Isidro Fernández y Bascarán (14 February 1909 - 23 December 2003), 1st ViscountViscountA viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
of San ClaudioSan ClaudioSan Claudio is a town situated in the municipality of Oviedo, Spain. It lies three kilometers and a half from Oviedo. It is named after Saint Claudius, a martyr of León, Spain....
and 1st LordLordLord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
of OlveraOlveraOlvera is a city located in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain. According to the 2005 census, the city has a population of 8,585 inhabitants.- Overview :...
, of the DukeDukeA duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
s of Castellón de la PlanaCastellón de la PlanaCastellón de la Plana or Castelló de la Plana is the capital city of the province of Castelló, in the Valencian Community, Spain, in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea...
and first cousin once removed of Cristóbal Martínez-BordiúCristóbal Martínez-BordiúDon Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú y Ortega, 10th Marquis of Villaverde was a Spanish aristocrat and noted heart surgeon.-Family:...
, Brigadier GeneralBrigadier GeneralBrigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
of the Spanish ArmySpanish ArmyThe Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
, and wife María Marcela Mier y López, and had issue:- Gonzalo Alcalá-Zamora y Fernández-Mier
- Lucía Alcalá-Zamora y Fernández-Mier
- José Alcalá-Zamora y Queipo de Llano, married to Aurora Horfelina Fernández y Mier (1 October 1942 - 29 May 2008), daughter of Vicente Isidro Fernández y Bascarán (14 February 1909 - 23 December 2003), 1st Viscount
Early political career
A lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
by profession, from a very young age he was active in the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Spanish Restoration)
The Liberal Party was a Spanish political party created in 1880 by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta. With the Partido Conservador of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, it formed a bipartite system of alternating governments that characterised the Spanish Restoration during the final part of the 19th century and...
. Chosen as a deputy, he quickly gained fame for his eloquent interventions in the Congress of Deputies, arriving to be minister of Promotion in 1917 and of War in 1922, comprised part of the governments of concentration presided over by García Prieto. He was also Spain’s representative in the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
.
Second Spanish Republic
Disappointed by the acceptance on the part of the King, Alfonso XIII, of the coup d'état by General Miguel Primo de RiveraMiguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, 22nd Count of Sobremonte, Knight of Calatrava was a Spanish dictator, aristocrat, and a military official who was appointed Prime Minister by the King and who for seven years was a dictator, ending the turno system of alternating...
on September 13, 1923, Alcalá-Zamora did not collaborate with the new regime. After the departure of the dictator in 1930, he declared himself a republican in a meeting that took place on April 13 in the Apolo theatre of Valencia
Valencia (city in Spain)
Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...
. He was one of the instigators of the Pact of San Sebastián
Pact of San Sebastián
The Pact of San Sebastián was a meeting led by Niceto Alcalá Zamora and Miguel Maura, which took place in San Sebastián, Spain on August 17, 1930. Representatives from practically all republican political movements in Spain at the time attended the meeting. Presided over by Fernando Sasiaín , the...
. The failure of the military uprising (Revolt of Jaca), in Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, of that same year took him to prison, as member of the revolutionary committee. But he left jail after the municipal elections of 12 April 1931. In these elections, although the monarchist candidates won more overall votes than the republicans did, the republicans did so well in the provincial cities that Alfonso soon abandoned power. Without waiting for a fresh election, Alcalá-Zamora put himself at the head of a revolutionary provisional government
Provisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...
, becoming the 122nd Prime Minister, which occupied the ministries in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
on 14 April and which proclaimed the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
.
Confirmed as Prime Minister in June, he resigned on 15 October, along with Miguel Maura, Minister of the Interior. Both men opposed the writing of articles 24 and 26 of the new Constitution; these articles, consecrated the separation of Church-State and made possible the dissolution of the religious orders considered dangerous for the State. Alcalá-Zamora and Maura said that these articles injured their religious feelings as well as those of the Catholic electorates which they represented.
Nevertheless, on 10 December 1931 Alcalá-Zamora was elected President, by 362 votes out of 410 present deputies (the Chamber was composed of 446 deputies).
In 1933 he dissolved the Cortes
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
(parliament), which cost Alcalá-Zamora critical support on the part of the left. The subsequent elections of November 1933 gave victory to the right, to which Alcalá-Zamora was very hostile, with constant institutional confrontations throughout its term in office. The party with the highest number of votes was the Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (CEDA), but it did not have enough seats to govern on its own. Alcalá-Zamora refused to appont CEDA leader José María Gil-Robles
José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones
José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones was a prominent Spanish politician in the period leading up to the Spanish Civil War....
prime minister and instead appointed Alejandro Lerroux
Alejandro Lerroux
Alejandro Lerroux y García was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party during the Second Spanish Republic...
, who then cooperated with the CEDA. In October 1934 Gil-Robles obtained two ministerial portfolios for CEDA; the following March he acquired three more, though at first he stopped short of trying to obtain the office of Prime Minister. When in the end he decided to try for that post, Alcala-Zamora dissolved the Cortes (January 7, 1936) specifically to avoid that outcome.
Though congress controversially decided that the dissolution had been illegal, elections were held and resulted in a narrow victory for the left-wing. The new parliament then applied a constitutional loophole to oust Alcala-Zamora: the Constitution
Spanish Constitution of 1931
The Spanish Constitution of 1931 meant the beginning of the Second Spanish Republic, the second period of Spanish history to date in which the election of both the positions of Head of State and Head of government were democratic. It was effective from 1931 until 1939...
allowed the Cortes to remove the President from office after two early dissolutions, and while the first (1933) dissolution had been partially justified because of the fulfillment of the Constitutional mission of the first legislature, the second one had been a simple bid to trigger early elections. Deeming such action "unjustified", the newly elected Cortes dismissed the President on 7 April 1936 and elected Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña Díaz was a Spanish politician. He was the first Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic , and later served again as Prime Minister , and then as the second and last President of the Republic . The Spanish Civil War broke out while he was President...
to the position. Azaña was detested by the right and Zamora's removal was a watershed moment, when many Spaniards gave up on parliamentary politics.
The beginning of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
surprised Alcalá-Zamora, who was on a trip to Scandinavia at the time. He decided to stay away from Spain when he found out that militiamen of the Popular Front government had illegally entered his home, stolen his belongings and plundered his safe-deposit box in the Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
Crédit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais
Crédit Lyonnais is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993...
bank, taking the manuscript of his memoirs.
World War II
When World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began, Alcalá-Zamora was in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Due to the German occupation and the collaborationist attitude of the Vichy government, he left France and went to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in January 1942. There he lived on money derived from his books, articles and conferences. An offer was allegedly made to him that he would be left unmolested if he did return, since a son of his was married to a daughter of General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano
Gonzalo Queipo de Llano
Gonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sierra, 1st Marquis of Queipo de Llano, a title bestowed upon him, to crown his professional career at the service of the "New" Spain forged by Dictator of Spain, 1939 - 1975, General Francisco Franco on 1 April 1950, once he had decided Spain would be again a Kingdom...
, one of the leaders of the uprising. If the offer ever occurred it came to naught, because he did not want to return to Spain under Franco.
Death and burial
Alcalá-Zamora died in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1949. His body was returned to Spain in 1979, and he was interred in Madrid's Cementerio de la Almudena
Cementerio de la Almudena
The Cementerio de Nuestra Señora de La Almudena is a cemetery in Madrid, Spain. It is the largest in Madrid and one of the largest in Western Europe...
.