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Nicolás Salmerón | |
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.jpg) Portrait byFederico de Madrazo | |
| President of the Executive Power | |
| In office 18 July 1873 – 7 September 1873 | |
| Preceded by | Francisco Pi y Margall |
| Succeeded by | Emilio Castelar y Ripoll |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1838-04-10)10 April 1838 |
| Died | 21 September 1908(1908-09-21) (aged 70) |
| Political party | Democratic Republican Union Progressive Party |
| Signature |  |
Nicolás Salmerón Alonso (10 April 1838 – 21 September 1908) was a Spanish politician and president of theFirst Spanish Republic.
He was born atAlhama la Seca in theprovince of Almería, was educated atGranada and became assistant professor of literature and philosophy at Madrid. The last years of the reign ofIsabella II were times of growing discontent with her government and with the monarchy. Salmerón joined a small party who advocated for the establishment of a republic. He was director of the opposition paperLa Discusión, and co-operated withEmilio Castelar onLa Democracia. In 1865 he was named one of the members of the directing committee of the Republican Party. In 1867 he was imprisoned with other suspects.
When therevolution of September 1868 broke out, he was at Almería recovering from a serious illness. Salmerón was elected to theCortes in 1871, and though he did not belong to the Socialist Party, defended its right to toleration. WhenAmadeo of Savoy resigned the Spanish crown on 11 February 1873 Salmerón was naturally marked out to be a leader of the party which endeavoured to establish a republic in Spain. While serving as minister of justice in theFigueras cabinet, he abolished the death penalty. He was subsequently elected president of theCortes, and then, on 18 July 1873, president of the Executive Power of the Republic, in succession toFrancisco Pi y Margall. He became president at a time when the Federalist Party had thrown all the south of Spain intoanarchy.
Salmerón was compelled to use the troops to restore order. When, however, he found that the generals insisted on executing rebels taken in arms, he resigned (September 6) on the ground that he was opposed to capital punishment. He was again elected president of the Cortes on September 9. His successor, Castelar, was compelled to restore order by drastic means. Salmerón took part in the attack made on him in theCortes on 3 January 1874, which provoked the generals into closing the chamber and establishing a provisional military government. Salmerón went into exile and remained abroad till 1881, when he was recalled bySagasta.
In 1886, he was elected to theCortes as Progressive deputy forMadrid, and unsuccessfully endeavoured to combine the jarring republican factions into a party of practical moderate views. In 1889, he was the attorney for the defense in the trial for thecrime of Fuencarral street in Madrid. On 18 April 1907 he was shot at, but not wounded, in the streets ofBarcelona by a member of the more extreme Republican Party. He died atPau on 21 September 1908 at the age of 70.
He was the last living president of theFirst Spanish Republic.
Since 2009 the Nicolás Salmerón Human Rights Prize has been awarded, arising from the initiative of theAteneo de Madrid. The award is organized by the International Foundation for Human Rights and delivered at the Ateneo headquarters every December 10 on the anniversary of the approval by the United Nations of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights. Among the winners in the different categories areLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2020),José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2009), la Casa Sefarad-Israel (2010),Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2011), El Intermedio y El Gran Wyoming (2012), Jesús Caldera (2012), Jordi Évole (2013), Pedro González Zerolo y Marcos Ana (2014)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Salmeron y Alfonso, Nicolas".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of the Executive Power of Spain 18 July 1873 – 7 September 1873 | Succeeded by |
| President of the Provisional Government of Spain 18 July 1873 – 7 September 1873 | ||
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