Augusto González Besada (June 14, 1865 – June 4, 1919) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

lawyer and politician who served as

President of the Congress of Deputies The president of the Congress of Deputies ( es, Presidente del Congreso de los Diputados) is the speaker of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members o ...

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

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 ...

and Minister of Development during the reign of

King 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, Alf ...

Biography

González Besada was member of one of the most powerful families of the

Province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, th ...

. His father, as well as his uncles, were members of the

Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra The Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra (Spanish language, Spanish: , Galician language, Galician: ) or Provincial Council of Pontevedra is the Provincial deputation (Spain), institution in charge of the government and administration of the Spanis ...

, and one of his uncles, Sabino, was President of the Deputation from 1896 to 1898 and Civil Governor of Pontevedra in two occasions. After obtaining the

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

, he entered in the

University of Santiago de Compostela , established = , type = Public , budget = €228 million (2011) , rector = Prof. Dr. Antonio López Díaz , city = Santiago de Compostela , state = Galicia , country = Spain , undergrad = 23,835 , postgrad = 1,716 , doctoral = 2,697 ...

where he studied law obtaining the degree in 1885. He started his professional work in the Bar Association of Pontevedra where he obtained a lot of fame and later in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, he was elected MP in 1899 by the constituency of

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

and he was re-elected in the elections of

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

, 1903 and

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

. In the next electoral processes, González Besada was elected by the constituencies of

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

in 1907, Almeria in 1910,

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

and

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

and

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

. In 1902 he was appointed Under Secretary of Finance and he was promoted to

from July 20, 1903, to December 5, 1903, by prime minister

Raimundo Fernández Villaverde The name Raimundo may refer to: * Raimundo, 2nd Duke of Castel Duino (1907–1986) * Raimundo Calcagno, Spanish screenwriter * Raimundo Rolón, brief President of Paraguay * Raimundo Orsi, Argentinian footballer * Raimundo Diosdado Caballero, Cat ...

, being the youngest Finance Minister of the

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. He also held this portfolio in two more occasions: between September 14, 1908, and October 21, 1909, and in 1918, both occasions in the cabinets of

Antonio Maura Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions. Early life Maura was born in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, and studied law in Madrid. In 1878, Maura married Constanci ...

. With Fernández Villaverde again as premier, González Besada was appointed

Interior Minister 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 ...

from January 27 to June 23, 1905, and again with Maura, Development Minister from January 25, 1907, to September 14, 1908. He was one of the spokespersons of the conservative opposition in 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 ...

, an opposition that rejected the Consumables Substitution Act planned by José Canalejas and he announced that when the conservatives return to power, they would block that law, as it happened. As Minister of Development he focused his forces on improving the Asturian ports of

Ribadesella Ribadesella (Asturian: Ribeseya) is a small municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Known for its location on the Cantabrian Sea, at the outlet of the River Sella, Ribadesella is a town that forms part ...

, Villaviciosa y

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

as well as the repopulation of the rivers of that area but, above all, the Asturian region named him

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of the region because of his support to the railway project of the region. He was elected

for the first time on April 3, 1914. He was elected by 285 votes of the 286 possibles and he was elected as an

acting president An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or a vacation) or when the post is vacant (such as for death, injury, resignation, dismissal ...

. The House confirmed his election on April 28, 1914, by

unanimity Unanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. Groups may consider unanimous decisions as a sign of social, political or procedural agreement, solidarity, and unity. Unanimity may be assumed explicitly after a unanimous vote or impl ...

. He was re-elected again on November 11, 1915, for a second term by 255 votes of 257. In December, after the fall of the Cabinet of

Eduardo Dato Eduardo Dato e Iradier (12 August 1856 – 8 March 1921) was a Spanish political leader during the Spanish Restoration period. He served three times as Spanish prime minister: from 27 October 1913 to 9 December 1915, from 11 June 1917 to 3 Nov ...

, the King proposed him to form a new government but he rejected it because that proposal was limited to be a temporary

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and without the authority to dissolve the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of N ...

and call for elections. In spite of rejecting the offer, González Besada became a great advisor to the government and the monarch. In 1915, Maura nominated him as a member of the

Spanish Royal Academy The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

and he assumed in May 1916. He was also a member of the

Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

, and of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence of which he became president. On June 4, 1919, three days after the being elected in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, González Besada passed away. He would be replaced as MP by his son Carlos González Besada y Giráldez. Two years later, to honor his memory,

created the Marquessate of González Besada, in favor of his widow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez Besada, Augusto 1865 births 1919 deaths Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) 19th-century Spanish politicians 20th-century Spanish politicians Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Economy and finance ministers of Spain Interior ministers of Spain Public works ministers of Spain People from O Baixo Miño