Antonio Ibáñez Freire (25 September 1913 – 9 May 2003) was a Spanish politician and military commander. He was

minister of the interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

of Spain from April 1979 to May 1980.

Biography

He was born in

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

. After passing the Military Academy of Zaragoza, he was appointed lieutenant of infantry and participated in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

revolting against the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

. Later, he enlisted as a volunteer in the

Blue Division The Blue Division ( es, División Azul, german: Blaue Division) was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer D ...

taking part in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in which he was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. He was civil governor of the

province of Santander Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

in 1960 and occupied the same position in Vizcaya (1961) and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

(1963). In 1978, he was appointed

Captain General Captain general (and its literal equivalent in several languages) is a high military rank of general officer grade, and a gubernatorial title. History The term "Captain General" started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of Command ...

of the Fourth Military Region. In April 1979, he was appointed minister of interior to the cabinet led by prime minister

Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in th ...

. Freire replaced Rodolfo Martín as interior minister. Freire was in office until May 1980 and

Juan José Rosón Juan José Rosón (25 September 1932 – 19 August 1986) was a Spanish politician and a member of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD). He served as the minister of interior from 1980 to 1982. Early life and education Rosón was born i ...

replaced him in the post.

Awards and decorations

* Military Medal (Spain), Individual and Collective awards * Grand Cross of the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...

* Grand Cross of the

Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild The Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild ( es, Real y Militar Orden de San Hermenegildo) is both a general military honor and a legion created by Ferdinand VII of Spain on 28 November 1814. The Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermene ...

* Grand Cross of Military Merit * Grand Cross of Naval Merit * Grand Cross of Aeronautical Merit * Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

* Grand Cross of the

Order of Cisneros The Order of Cisneros ( es, Orden de Cisneros, links=no) is a state order of Spain created in 1944. It is named after Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros. Primarily bestowed during the Francoist dictatorship and currently dormant, it reward ...

* Grand Cross of the

Imperial Order of the Yoke and Arrows The Imperial Order of the Yoke and Arrows ( es, Orden Imperial del Yugo y las Flechas) was a Spanish state and military order. It was established in 1937 under the dictatorship of ''Caudillo'' Francisco Franco and discontinued in 1976 followin ...

* Grand Cross of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic Church, Catholic order of ...

* Great Star of Military Merit of the Chilean Army * Grand Cross of the Order of Ruben Dario (Nicaragua). * Medal of Suffering for the country * Gold Medal of the city of

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

* Gold Medal of the city of

of 1939, 2nd class

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibanez Freire, Antonio 1913 births 2003 deaths People from Vitoria-Gasteiz Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Spanish military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Military Medal (Spain) Grand Crosses of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegild Grand Crosses of Military Merit Grand Crosses of Naval Merit Crosses of Aeronautical Merit Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd class Politicians from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Interior ministers of Spain Civil governors of Barcelona