Félix Ormazabal Askasibar (5 May 1940 – 15 January 2022) was a Spanish politician. A member of the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party ( , EAJ; , PNV; , PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially the Basque National Party in English, is a Basque nationalist and regionalist political party. The party is located in the centre of the political spectrum. It has been de ...

, he served as

Deputy General of Álava The deputy general of Álava (, ) is the head of the of Álava, a province of the Basque Country, Spain. The current incumbent is Ramiro González of the Basque Nationalist Party, who has held the office since 2015. The post has existed since ...

from 1995 to 1999. He was also a member of the

Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament (Basque language, Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected ...

in 1980 and again from 1984 to 1995. He died in

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

on 15 January 2022, at the age of 81.

Biography

Félix Ormazabal was born in Araia, Álava in 1940, he studied law and theology. As a priest in , he supported the workers who took part in the 1972 strike at the

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

factory in

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória ( ...

. As a result of his involvement, he was detained for a month and three days. He entered politics after meeting

José Ángel Cuerda José Ángel Cuerda Montoya (born 17 March 1934) is a Spanish politician of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV). He was the first democratically elected mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in E ...

, who served as his lawyer during his detention. He was first elected to public office in 1979, when he became a member of the

Asparrena Asparrena (, meaning 'down the rock') is a municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories ...

municipal council. In 1979 he became the head of the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in the . He continued in that office until 1988, under

Carlos Garaikoetxea Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza (born 2 June 1938) is a former politician from the Spanish Basque Country. He became the second elected ''Lehendakari'' (President of the Basque Autonomous Community), after José Antonio Aguirre, and held that offi ...

and

José Antonio Ardanza José Antonio Ardanza Garro (10 June 1941 – 8 April 2024) was a Spanish politician who became the second elected ''Lehendakari'' (President (government title), President of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Communit ...

. He was also a member of the first government of the after its restoration, serving with Deputy General Emilio Guevara. He was elected to the

five consecutive times, starting in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

he was elected to the

General Assembly of Álava The General Assemblies of Álava (in Basque: ''Arabako Batzar Nagusiak'', in Spanish: ''Juntas Generales de Álava'') are the parliament of Álava, a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country. The General Assemblies are ...

and subsequently became Deputy General. He headed a majority coalition government with

Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna (; ; ; ) is a Basque nationalist and social-democratic political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means ''Basque Solidarity'' and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a " Basque national ...

and the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

until 1997, when the Socialist Party left the coalition as a consequence of

dismissing members of the party from the ruling coalition at the

city council. He was the leading candidate of the Basque Nationalist Party in the 1999 election, in which it finished second behind the People's Party. In the second round of the investiture vote the Socialist Party supported , the People's Party candidate, thus putting an end to Ormazabal's tenure as Deputy General. He retired from politics in 2005. He died in January 2022 after a sudden heart attack at his home in Araia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ormazabal, Félix 1940 births 2022 deaths Politicians from the Basque Country (autonomous community) People from Álava Basque Nationalist Party politicians Deputies general of Álava Government ministers of the Basque Country (autonomous community) Members of the 1st Basque Parliament Members of the 2nd Basque Parliament Members of the 3rd Basque Parliament Members of the 4th Basque Parliament Members of the 5th Basque Parliament Municipal councillors in the Basque Country (autonomous community) 20th-century Spanish lawyers 20th-century Spanish Roman Catholic priests Basque Roman Catholic priests Prisoners and detainees of Spain Basque Anti-Francoists Agriculture ministers of the Basque Country (autonomous community)