Gregorio Peces-Barba Martínez (13 January 1938 – 24 July 2012) was a Spanish politician and jurist. He was one of the seven jurists who wrote the Spanish Constitution of 1978, acting as a representative of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

Peces-Barba was born in Madrid. He studied Law in Madrid and Strasbourg, writing his thesis about

Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas fo ...

. He was a member of the Socialist Party since 1972 and was chosen as congressman for the

province of Valladolid Valladolid () is a Provinces of Spain, province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. It has a population of 520,716 people in a total of 225 munici ...

in 1977 in the first democratic elections in Spain in forty years. He was one of the seven jurists who wrote the constitution approved in referendum in 1978, and so he is considered a father of the constitution. In 1982 he was elected president of the

congress of deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

and held that chair until 1986 when he decided not to rerun. He helped to create the

Charles III University of Madrid University Charles III of Madrid ( es, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) (UC3M) is a public university in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Established in 1989, UC3M is an institution with a distinctly international profile. It offers a broad rang ...

and from 1989 until 2007 he was rector of that university. He was chosen by president

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...

to be High Commissioner for the help of the victims of terrorism in 2004. He was strongly criticised by the

Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo The Association of Victims of Terrorism () is a Spanish association created in 1981 by victims of terrorist attacks. Its members include those injured by ETA, GRAPO, the Provisional Irish Republican Army and Al Qaeda, as well as their families. It ...

and decided to resign in 2006. No successor was chosen.elmundo.es(Spanish)
/ref> He died on 24 July 2012, aged 74, in

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) 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 the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

, Spain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peces-Barba, Gregorio 1938 births 2012 deaths Recipients of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin Academic staff of the Charles III University of Madrid Fathers of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the constituent Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 2nd Congress of Deputies (Spain) Complutense University of Madrid alumni University of Strasbourg alumni Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain)