The Count of Romanones | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Portrait byBassano, 1914 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister of Spain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 December 1918 – 14 April 1919 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Manuel García Prieto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Antonio Maura | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 9 December 1915 – 19 April 1917 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Eduardo Dato | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Manuel García Prieto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 14 November 1912 – 27 October 1913 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Manuel García Prieto(Acting) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Eduardo Dato | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the Senate of Spain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 26 May – 13 November 1923 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Joaquín Sánchez de Toca | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the Congress of Deputies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 16 June 1910 – 18 November 1912 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Eduardo Dato | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Segismundo Moret | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayor of Madrid | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 15 March 1894 – 26 March 1895 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Santiago de Angulo Ortiz de Traspeña | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Nicolás de Peñalver y Zamora | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Álvaro de Figueroa y Torres-Sotomayor 15 August 1863 Casa de Cisneros,Madrid, Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 11 September 1950(1950-09-11) (aged 87) Madrid, Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Liberal Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Casilda Alonso-Martínez Martín (1888–1950) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent |
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| Alma mater | Central University Collegio di Spagna University of Bologna | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Álvaro de Figueroa y Torres, 1st Count of Romanones (9 August 1863 – 11 October 1950) was a Spanish politician and businessman. He served asPrime Minister three times between 1912 and 1918,president of the Senate,president of the Congress of Deputies,Mayor of Madrid and many times as cabinet minister. He belonged to theLiberal Party. Romanones, who built an extensive political network, exerted a tight control on the political life of theprovince of Guadalajara during much of theRestoration period.[1] He also was a prolific writer, authoring a number of history essays.
Born on 15 August 1863 in theCasa de Cisneros, at the Madrid'sPlaza de la Villa,[2] he was son ofIgnacio Figueroa y Mendieta (a millionaire who had inherited a fortune from the mining companies of his father) and Ana de Torres y Romo (an aristocrat, daughter of theMarquis of Villamejor).[3] His siblings were Francisca,José,Gonzalo andRodrigo.[4]
When he was a child, he suffered abarouche accident that broke his right leg and caused a limp for the rest of his life.[5] His disability would come to be mocked on a regular basis incuplés, jokes and caricatures.[6]
He earned alicentiate degree in Law from theCentral University of Madrid in 1884.[7] He moved in February 1885 to theUniversity of Bologna'sCollegio di Spagna, where he remained until December 1885, earning a doctorate in jurisprudence by reading a dissertation titledIntroduzione allo studio del diritto costituzionale.[8] Despite this, he never practiced law.[8]
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In 1888, he became member of theCongress of Deputies in representation of Guadalajara for the first time, elected in aby-election to fill a vacant seat.[9] Short by a few months of turning the 25 years of age needed to become a legislator, he reportedly hid this circumstance.[10] Shortly after, on 21 September 1888, inSan Sebastián, Figueroa married the daughter of the Minister of Grace and JusticeManuel Alonso Martínez: Casilda Alonso Martínez, with whom he had seven children: Casilda,Luis [fi],Álvaro, Carlos,José,Eduardo andAgustín [es].[11][n. 1]
He participated in a parliamentary scandal in July 1889, when amid a tense squabble in the legislature, he wielded his walking stick againstFelipe Ducazcal [es], who had reportedly approached theMarquis of Vega de Armijo displaying an aggressive attitude.[13] He was falsely accused byRomero Robledo of "having drawn the rapier he had hidden in his cane".[14]
He was electedMadrid municipal councillor in 1889.[15] After serving as responsible for the districts of Buenavista and Audiencia, as patron of the School of San Ildefonso, and as director of the Services of Abattoirs, Markets and Thoroughfares and Works, Figueroa renounced to the office in 1892.[15]
He delivered an ignominious tirade against the Mayor of MadridAlberto Bosch y Fustegueras from his parliamentary seat in 1892,[16] so much that the offended called for aduel, which was held on 10 July 1892 inLeganés.[17] The combatants crossed two shots.[18] He also held another duel with theMarquis of Valdeiglesias [es].[19]
In 1894 he was appointed asMayor of Madrid. In 1896 he acquired a daily newspaper,El Globo, based in Madrid, appointingFrancos Rodríguez as editor and tilting the editorial line fromrepublicanism to liberal monarchism.[20][21][22]
He served as Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts (1901–1902) in the government ofSagasta. In 1901, he incorporated primary education teachers' salaries (hitherto dependent on the local administrations) in the State budget, securing the teachers economic autonomy and curbing the influence ofcaciquismo in education.[23] In 1903 he founded a new political newspaper,Diario Universal [es], replacingEl Globo,[24] which had been sold to Emilio Rius y Periquet.[25]
In the Liberal governments of 1905 and 1906 he was Minister of Development (Fomento which included agriculture, industry, commerce and public works), Justice and Interior.[26] He contributed to the rise ofJosé Canalejas to the top of the Liberal Party and, as a reward, he was appointed minister of public instruction in 1909 and later propmoted to the presidency of the House of Representatives (Congreso de los Diputados) in 1912.
After the assassination of Canalejas, he became one of the prominent figures in the Liberal Party and he was appointed prime minister (1912–1913).[27] He negotiated withFrance a treaty onMorocco.
During theFirst World War he held a pro-French stance, which put him in conflict with the official declaration of neutrality of the government ofEduardo Dato and with the pro-German stance of the conservatives. When he again became prime minister (1915–1917), he changed Spain's foreign policy closer to the allies and confronting Germany over an incident of Spanish ships being torpedoed by German submarines. Incapable of resolving Spain's social problems and attacked by the pro-German conservative press, he finally resigned.
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Shortly after he participated in the coalition government ofAntonio Maura as Minister of Instruction and of Justice and in the government ofManuel García Prieto as Minister of State (1918), and he presided a brief government in December 1918, which was toppled by theautonomist agitation in Catalonia and the labour conflicts. He was replaced in April 1919 after issuing theEight Hour Workday Decree.
He was minister of justice (1922–1923) in the liberal government ofManuel García Prieto and became president of the Senate in 1923, serving in such capacity when themilitary coup of Miguel Primo de Rivera took place on 13 September 1923.
During thedictatorship of Primo de Rivera, he stayed out of politics although he participated in the conspiracy known as theSanjuanada for which he was fined.
He was appointed Minister of State in the government ofJuan Bautista Aznar Cabañas, but the elections in 1931 showed that the monarchy was unpopular so he advisedAlfonso XIII to leave Spain.
Romanones talked personally toNiceto Alcalá Zamora and his revolutionary committee and agreed to thepeaceful transfer of power to the Provisional Republican Government, without military intervention, in exchange of the guarantee for the life of the royal family.
_-_Fondo_Car-Kutxa_Fototeka.jpg)
During theSecond Republic, he remained deputy representative for Guadalajara.
The outbreak of theCivil War found him inSan Sebastián in charge of his own business, and he crossed over to France with the help of the French ambassador. He moved to the Nationalist zone in 1937, and, having become an ardent supporter ofFrancisco Franco,[28] he was one of the signatories of theAdvisory Opinion on the Illegitimacy of the Acting Powers on the 18th of July 1936, anad-hoc juridical report commissioned by the Francoist Government in Burgos, trying to legitimate the "national uprising"—the1936 coup d'etat—by means of twisted arguments such as imputing on those assaulted the very crime that the assault entailed, that of "aiding of the rebellion".[29]
After the war he wrote his memoirs and was president of theReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and member of the academies of History and Jurisprudence.
He died on 11 September 1950 in Madrid.[30]
Romanones was a prolific writer and he wrote his memoirs during theSecond Republic. He wrote several biographies as well as political works and essays.
Although Catholic, he was against religious intolerance and also against the influence of the clergy for which he often clashed with religious authorities. An example of this happened with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Law of 1905 which stated that those getting married did not have to declare their religion. He reinstated diplomatic relations with theHoly See but he was a fervent supporter of theseparation of Church and State.
He was aDoctor of Law by theUniversity of Bologna, a member of theRoyal Academy of History and of theRoyal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. Director of theReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and a president of theAteneo Madrileño.
He was madeCount of Romanones in 1893 andGrandee of Spain in 1911, as well as 7thCount of Yebes in 1922.
This article is based on thearticle in the Spanish Wikipedia.
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mayor of Madrid 1894–1895 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts 1901–1902 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture, Industry, Commerce and Public Works 1905 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Governation 1905–1906 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Grace and Justice 1906 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Governation 1906–1907 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts 1910 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Congress of Deputies 1910–1912 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Council of Ministers 1912–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Grace and Justice 1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State 1916 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Grace and Justice 1918 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts 1918 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State 1918–1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Council of Ministers 1918–1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Grace and Justice 1922–1923 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Senate 1923 | Succeeded by Antonio Fontán(1977) |
| Preceded by | Minister of State 1931 | Succeeded by |
| Cultural offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of theAteneo de Madrid 1920–1922 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Director of theReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando 1910–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Spanish nobility | ||
| New creation | Count of Romanones 1893–1950 | Succeeded by |
