Tomás Bilbao Hospitalet (1890–1954) was a Basque-origin Spanish architect and politician. He was among the founders of

Basque Nationalist Action Basque Nationalist Action ( eu, Eusko Abertzale Ekintza, es, Acción Nacionalista Vasca, EAE–ANV) is a Basque nationalist party based in Spain. Founded in 1930, it was the first Basque nationalist political party to exist running on a socialist ...

. After serving as a minister of justice he exiled first to France and then, to Mexico.

Early life and education

Bilbao was born in Bilbao on 18 September 1890 and his father was a building contractor. He received a degree in architecture in 1918 from the School of Architecture of Madrid.

Career

After working as an architecture Bilbao designed

Altos Hornos de Vizcaya Altos Hornos de Vizcaya, S.A. was a Spanish metallurgy manufacturing company. It was the largest company in Spain for much of the 20th century, employing 40,000 workers at its height. The business began in 1902 in Bilbao with the merger of three ...

in 1929. Like other architects of his generation he was influenced from German

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

and the architectural approach led by

Erich Mendelsohn Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic Functionalism (architecture), functionalism in his projects for department ...

. Bilbao involved in politics and became a cofounder of the Basque Nationalist Action party in 1930 and the president of the Bilbao Municipal Housing Board in 1931. He was also councillor and deputy mayor of the Bilbao City Council during the Second Republic. In the period 1937–1938 he was minister of justice.

Exile, personal life and death

Bilbao first exiled to France. Then he settled in Mexico in May 1942 when France was

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

Nazi forces The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. There he worked for the Compañía Mexicana de Comercio Exterior. Bilbao was married to Julia Durán with whom he had seven children. Their oldest son was arrested and executed following the exile of his father. Tomás Bilbao died in Mexico City on 16 March 1954. One of his grandchildren,

Tatiana Bilbao Tatiana Bilbao Spamer (born 1972) is a Mexican architect whose works often merged geometry with nature. Her practice focuses on sustainable design and social housing. She founded Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO in 2004 and has completed projects in China, ...

, is a well-known architecture in Mexico.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilbao Hospitalet, Tomas 20th-century Spanish architects 1890 births 1954 deaths Justice ministers of Spain Basque Nationalist Action politicians Politicians from Bilbao Exiled Spanish politicians Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Mexico Expressionist architects