Carmen Franco, 1st Duchess Of Franco
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María del Carmen Franco y Polo, 1st Duchess of Franco, Grandee of Spain, Marchioness of Villaverde (14 September 1926 – 29 December 2017) was the only child of Spain's ''
caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...
'', General
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
and his wife, Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés. In Asturian fashion, she was known by many nicknames, such as Nenuca, Carmelilla, Carmencita, Cotota and Morita.


Family

Franco was born in
Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...
. It is rumoured that she was actually the daughter of Francisco Franco's younger brother, Ramón Franco and a prostitute who died shortly after giving birth. On 10 April 1950, in El Pardo, she married Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú, 10th Marquis of Villaverde. Villaverde was a prominent surgeon. In 1968 he conducted the first
heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedure is to take a functioning heart ...
operation in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The couple had seven children: * María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco, 2nd Duchess of Franco (b. El Pardo, 26 February 1951), who married Prince Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, son of Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia and grandson of King
Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII ( Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also ...
; and had issue. * María de la O "Mariola" Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. El Pardo, 19 November 1952), married in El Pardo on 14 March 1974 to Rafael Ardid y Villoslada (b. 1 February 1947), and had issue. * Francisco de Asís Franco y Martínez-Bordiú, 11th Marquis of Villaverde (b. 9 December 1954), married and divorced twice and had issue. * María del Mar "Merry" Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. 6 July 1956), married firstly at the Pazo de Meirás on 3 August 1977 and divorced in 1982, Joaquín José Giménez-Arnau y Puente (b. 14 September 1943), and had issue, and married secondly in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
on 4 August 1986, and divorced in 1991, Gregor Tamler, without issue. * José Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. El Pardo, 10 February 1958), married civilly in New York City, on 23 November 1984 and religiously in Madrid on 27 October 1990 to
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...
Josefina Victoria Toledo y López (b. San José de Tirajana,
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
, 1963), and had issue. * María de Aránzazu "Arantxa" Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. 16 September 1962), married at the Pazo de Meirás on 27 July 1996 to Claudio Quiraga y Ferro, without issue * Jaime Felipe Martínez-Bordiú y Franco (b. 8 July 1964), married in Madrid on 24 November 1995 to Nuria March y Almela (b. July 1966), divorced and had issue. Married secondly on 7 April 2021 in a civil ceremony in Madrid to Marta Fernández. Shortly after her
father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...
's death in 1975, King Juan Carlos created her Duchess of Franco and a
grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...
, with a
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
of new creation. The arms are a variation of the arms of the de Andrade family of Galicia, from whom she is twice descended from the Pardo de Andrade branch, and twice again from the 7th counts of Lemos and Sarria.


Controversies

In 1978, she was arrested at
Madrid Barajas International Airport Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
for attempting to smuggle 300 million pesetas (>US$4 million) worth of gold, jewellery and medals that had belonged to her father. Her daughter divorced from her husband and moved to Paris, where she lived with the antiquarian Jean-Marie Rossi, whom she married. In 2008, she collaborated with
Stanley G. Payne Stanley George Payne (born September 9, 1934) is an American historian of modern Spain and Europe, European fascism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He retired from full-time teaching in 2004 and is currently Professor Emeritus at its Dep ...
and Jesús Palacios Tapias to write ''Franco, My Father'', a biography of her father from her point of view. She described her father as a warm person. With regards to the White Terror, she noted that "he did not talk about it at home". According to the book Franco, referred to as "Generalísimo" or "Head of State", was an "intelligent and moderate", a "brave and Catholic" man and who established an "authoritarian but not totalitarian" regime., online: She chaired the Francisco Franco National Foundation, which is under criticism for its revisionist opinions such as calling the
Spanish coup of July 1936 The Spanish coup of July 1936( or, among the rebels, ) was a military uprising that was intended to overthrow the Spanish Second Republic, but precipitated the Spanish Civil War, in which Nationalists fought against Republicans for control o ...
an "armed referendum". The Spanish historian
Borja de Riquer Borja may refer to: * Borja (name) Borja is both a surname and a male given name of Spanish origin. January 11 is the international Borja day. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Álvaro Alfredo Magaña Borja (1925–2001), interim pr ...
called that a
euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...
with reference to an era in which approximately 140,000 Spaniards were executed in a reign of terror by the Falange, the Guardia Civil and other
Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
organisations. During the premiership of
José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...
the foundation received financial support from the
Spanish Minister of Education and Culture The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFPD) is the Spanish government departments, department of the Government of Spain responsible for proposing and carrying out the government policy on Education in Spain, education and ...
. Funding was terminated in 2004. She is regarded as an icon by the remaining followers of
Francoism Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
.


Death

She died from
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
on 29 December 2017 in Madrid, aged 91, and her ashes were buried next to her husband in the crypt of Almudena Cathedral.


Honours

* Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Beneficencehttp://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1962/03/09/pdfs/A03306-03306.pdf


References


External links


Universal Studios Newsreel for 8 April 1957
"18th anniversary of end of Spanish revolution in Spain, Franco and daughter watch soldiers, the ''caudillo'' looks on with pride, 18 years of peace and rebuilding". , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco y Polo, Carmen 1926 births 2017 deaths People from Oviedo Francoists Spanish duchesses 101 Grandees of Spain Children of prime ministers of Spain Children of heads of state Women fascists