Antonio Pérez Crespo (Murcia, June 16, 1929 - ''ibidem'', March 17, 2012) was a Spanish writer and politician. He was the first president of the

Regional Council of Murcia The Regional Council of Murcia was the governing body in the Region of Murcia in the pre-autonomous process. His mandate was from the end of 1978 until the creation of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in 1983. Creation Th ...

, the pre-autonomous body of the

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a popul ...

. He was also a deputy for the Democratic Center Union in the

1977 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1977. Africa * 1977 Afars and Issas Constituent Assembly election * 1977 Algerian legislative election * 1977 Gambian general election * 1976–1977 Guinea-Bissau legislative election * 1977 Malagasy ...

and a senator in the 1979 elections.

Biography

He completed secondary studies at the

Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...

at the

University of Murcia The University of Murcia () is the primary institute of higher education in Murcia, Spain. With a student population of approximately 38,000, it is the largest university in the Region of Murcia. Founded in 1272 AD, the University of Murcia is ...

. Between 1961 and 1971 he was the president of the Board of the

Port of Cartagena The port of Cartagena () is the port located in Cartagena, Spain. It is the fourth nationwide port in freight traffic behind Algeciras, Valencia and Barcelona. It occupies the eighth place in relation to the number of cruises. 60% of exports and t ...

and also a member of the National Union of the Merchant Navy, he also collaborated in the founding in 1968 of the Franco Depot Consortium of the Port of Cartagena in order to facilitate international trade in merchandise. His political participation as a member of the Catholic Association of Propagandists was notable and allowed him to become the leader of the Murcian Democratic Union party, with a

Christian Democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

tendency. This party joined the coalition

Unión de Centro Democrático Unión may refer to: Places * Unión, Paraguay * Unión Municipality, Falcón, Venezuela * Unión, Montevideo, Uruguay * Unión Cantinil, Huehuetenango, Guatemala * Unión, San Luis, Argentina * Unión Department, Córdoba Province, Argentina * ...

in May 1977. Pérez Crespo actively participated in the political process of the transition in the Region of Murcia and with greater intensity in the formation of the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

: he was part of the permanent commission of the working body for the preparation of the Statute of Autonomy and was appointed President of the Regional Council. As a representative of the UCD he was

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

for the province of Murcia in the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

during the constituent period which allowed him to participate in the approval of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

and in the elections of 1979 he was elected

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

. At the end of his mandate he dedicated himself more to his professional activity and to research on topics related to the region. He was official chronicler of the Region of Murcia since its creation in 2003 and published different investigations on historical and economic topics. Among his publications are: "The novels about Murcia: 1939-1981" (1981), "The lizard and his time" (1988), "Uses and customs in sharecropping in the province of Murcia" (1989) which was a topic that earned him the prize of San Raimundo de Peñafort, he later published "El cantón murciano" (1990), "Diálogo y Consenso" (1993), "Agua seca y bitter" (1995), "Jumilla, entre cantonals y carlistas: la Lozano" (1995), "Murcia: the city" (1996), "Looking to the future with hope" (1997), "In your hand you had the cave" (1999), "History of the periodical press in the city of Murcia" (2000), "Reflections of an old ex-president" (2001), "An Arab garden in

Arrixaca Arrixaca (later San Esteban) was an ''arrabal'' (suburb) of Murcia, although it is now in the centre of the expanded city. It is the site of the Al-Andalusian palatial complex and neighborhood of San Esteban. Etymology The name may have Basque ...

" (2002), "The burial of the sardine and the garden side in the 19th century", "The Virgin of "FuenSanta", patron saint of Murcia (2005), ""La Región", a Murcian newspaper of the Second Republic" (2005), "With time and a cane, even the green ones fall" (2005), "Ntra . Mrs. de la Arrixaca: between legend, tradition and history: Our Lady of the Olmos, Santa María la Real de las Huertas, Santa María del Rosel" (2007), "The great coalition" (2008) and "The origins and implementation of the Tajo-Segura transfer: a personal chronicle" (2009). He received recognition from various institutions for which he was a Favorite Son of the city of Murcia and had the Commendation of the Order of Civil Merit, of the

Order of Constitutional Merit The Order of Constitutional Merit is a civil order of merit established by royal decree on 18 November 1988. The order is granted those who have carried out activities in service of the Spanish Constitution and its values and established principl ...

and the Gold Medal of the Region of Murcia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Crespo, Antonio 1929 births 2012 deaths Presidents of the Region of Murcia Spanish writers Spanish politicians