Jesús María Duñabeitia Vidal (25 November 1929 – 26 November 2013) was a Spanish politician 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 ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

executive. He was the only person to be president of

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

(1977–1982) and

mayor of Bilbao The Mayor of Bilbao (, ) is the head of the municipal government of Bilbao, Spain. He presides over the Bilbao City Council. The current mayor of Bilbao is Juan Mari Aburto since 2015. Mayors of Bilbao since 1979

This is a list of the mayor ...

(1990–1991).

Early life and Athletic Bilbao

Known as "Beti", he was born in the Casco Viejo of

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

as the son of

footballer

Alberto Duñabeitia Alberto Duñabeitia de la Mota (7 January 1900 – 1 January 1980) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender for RCD Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao. He was the father of the former president of Athletic Club and mayor of Bilbao, Jesús ...

(1900–1980). His grandfather ran a gift shop. He himself played football and won a medal in an international university tournament. In 1977, he was elected president of

in the early days of the

Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

; under his mandate the club began to officially display the Basque flag. Other changes during his tenure included naming

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

as manager, putting the presidency up for universal suffrage of club members and allowing women to become club members.After turning down a plan by his predecessor to build a new stadium, instead renovating for the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

, Duñabeitia left Athletic Bilbao in 1982 and became a full-time politician.

Politics and death

In 1983, he was elected to Bilbao City Council and became the councillor in charge of social welfare, under mayor José Luis Robles. Later, while in charge of the Water Board, he had to place restrictions on water use during the droughts of 1988 and 1989. After the resignation of

José María Gorordo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

, he became mayor in December 1990, serving until the June 1991 election. Duñabeitia died the day after his 84th birthday. His funeral at Bilbao Cathedral was attended by colleagues from local football and politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunabeitia, Jesus Maria 1929 births 2013 deaths Politicians from Bilbao Basque Nationalist Party politicians Mayors of Bilbao Athletic Bilbao presidents