Casares Quiroga
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Santiago Casares y Quiroga (8 May 1884, in
A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
, Galicia – 17 February 1950, in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
) was
Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government ( es, link=no, Presidente del Gobierno), is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of 1978 and it was first regula ...
from 13 May to 19 July 1936.


Biography

Leader and founder of the
Autonomous Galician Republican Organization The Autonomous Galician Republican Organization ( gl, Organización Republicana Galega Autónoma, ORGA) was a Spanish left-wing republican and Galician nationalist party in Galicia. It was founded in October 1929 in A Coruña by Santiago Casares Q ...
(ORGA), a Galician regionalist party, Casares participated in the
Pact of San Sebastián The Pact of San Sebastián was a meeting led by Niceto Alcalá Zamora and Miguel Maura, which took place in San Sebastián, Spain on 17 August 1930. Representatives from practically all republican political movements in Spain at the time attended t ...
in 1930, a platform composed of the principal parties of the republican opposition which aimed to bring down the monarchy of
Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfo ...
. He served as representative of the Galician Republican Federation, a republican group formed by his ORGA along with other Galician republican forces such as the Radical Party, the federalists and the radical-socialists. In December 1930, he was sent clandestinely to
Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ea ...
as a delegate of the National Revolutionary Committee (CRN), to prevent Captain Fermín Galán Rodríguez from rising the Jaca garrison in advance of the date agreed by the CRN. Casares Quiroga did not arrive in time to stop Galán, and the
Jaca uprising The Jaca uprising ( es, Sublevación de Jaca) was a military revolt on 12–13 December 1930 in Jaca, Huesca, Spain, with the purpose of overthrowing the monarchy of Spain. The revolt was launched prematurely, was poorly organized and was quickly s ...
took place on 12 December 1930 without success. As a result, Casares Quiroga was imprisoned. With the proclamation of 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 ...
in April 1931, he was named Minister of the Navy in the provisional government, becoming later the Minister of Governance (Interior). He was elected a deputy for ORGA in the Constituent Cortes, and remained Minister of Governance during the socialist-republican biennium (1931–1933) in the government of
Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...
, Casares’ personal friend. He was reelected to the Cortes in 1933, and in 1934 joined his party (now the Galician Republican Party) with Azaña’s and others to create the Republican Left, a party which would then become a part of the
Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...
. Casares Quiroga was again reelected in February 1936 and was named Minister of Public Works. After Azaña became President of the Republic in May, Casares Quiroga on 10 May became the 132nd Prime Minister and Minister of War. As the prime minister, he organized the referendum on the Galician Statute of Autonomy (the third statute of autonomy under the Republic, after
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
and the Basque Country), which was approved on 28 June 1936. He was serving as prime minister when the military uprising of 17 July 1936 took place, which then developed into 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 ...
. Incapable of confronting the uprising, Casares resigned on 19 July and was replaced by
Diego Martínez Barrio Diego Martínez Barrio (25 November 1883, in Seville – 1 January 1962) was a Spanish politician during the Second Spanish Republic, Prime Minister of Spain between 9 October 1933 and 26 December 1933 and was briefly appointed again by Manuel ...
, whose government was never confirmed, and then definitely by
José Giral José Giral y Pereira (22 October 1879 – 23 December 1962) was a Spanish politician, who served as the 75th Prime Minister of Spain during the Second Spanish Republic. Life Giral was born in Santiago de Cuba. He had degrees in Chemistry a ...
. Historians have generally agreed that Casares refused to deliver arms to the revolutionary workers’ organizations as the right-wing uprising unfolded. The memoirs of his daughter María Casares denied this. He did not hold any other office during the Civil War, and left for France along with Azaña and Martínez Barrio after the fall of Catalonia. He died in exile in 1950. He was the father of actress
María Casares María Casares (21 November 1922 – 22 November 1996) was a Spanish-born French actress and one of the most distinguished stars of the French stage and cinema. She was credited in France as Maria Casarès. Early life Casares was born María V ...
. He was an atheist."Her father, Santiago Casares Quiroga, a leftwing atheist, defied another Galician native, born just across the estuary at Ferrol, Francisco Franco, the Caudillo in person." James Kirkup, 'Obituary: Maria Casares, Free Spirit of the French Stage', The Guardian (London), November 26, 1996, Features, Pg. 16.


References


Sources


''Xenealoxía.org''


External links


CASARES QUIROGA Y CASTELAO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casares Quiroga, Santiago 1884 births 1950 deaths People from A Coruña Autonomous Galician Republican Organization politicians Republican Left (Spain) politicians Prime Ministers of Spain Spanish atheists Justice ministers of Spain Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic Politicians from Galicia (Spain) Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Interior ministers of Spain 19th-century atheists 20th-century atheists Government ministers during the Second Spanish Republic