Joaquín Ruiz-Giménez Cortés ( Hoyo de Manzanares,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, 2 August 1913 -

, 27 August 2009) was a Spanish politician and jurist. He was

minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

under

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

(1951-1955) but he drifted apart from the Francoist State since 1956 and, adopting a

Christian Democrat Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian ethics#Politics, Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo ...

position, steadily started to promote a quiet transition to democracy, especially through ''

Cuadernos para el Diálogo ''Cuadernos para el Diálogo'' () was a monthly cultural magazine published between 1963 and 1978 in Madrid, Spain. History and profile ''Cuadernos'' was established in October 1963 by Joaquín Ruiz-Giménez, a former minister of education unde ...

'' magazine. He was considered one of the most relevant figures of the moderate inner opposition to

Francoism Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

. Failing to play a relevant role during the 1977 democratic elections, he was later elected as the first

Spanish Ombudsman The Spanish Ombudsman or Defender of the People ''( Spanish: Defensor del Pueblo)'' is the ombudsman of the Cortes Generales responsible for defending the fundamental rights and public liberties of citizens by supervising the activity of public ...

Biography

Early life

Ruiz-Giménez was son of

Joaquín Ruiz Jiménez Joaquín or Joaquin is a male given name, the Spanish version of Joachim. Given name * Joaquín (footballer, born 1956) (Joaquín Alonso González), Spanish football midfielder * Joaquín (footballer, born 1981) (Joaquín Sánchez Rodríguez), ...

, Liberal politician who was minister twice under

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

and

mayor of Madrid The Mayor of Madrid presides over the Madrid City Council, the government body of the capital city of Spain. The mayor has the duty of boosting the local policies, it directs the action of the other executive bodies, leads the Local Executive Adm ...

. While student at the University of Madrid, he participated actively in the students' catholic organizations and in 1935 he was elected secretary-general of the National Catholic Students Confederation. After the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

broke out he was imprisoned several times, but finally released he sought asylum at the

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

nian embassy, and thus he was evacuated to

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

via

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. Then, he joined the Nationalist Army and served in the front of

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel (province), Teruel Province. It had a population of 35,900 as of 2022, making it the least populated provincial capital in Spain. It is noted for its har ...

and

Maestrazgo The Maestrazgo () or Maestrat () is a natural and historical mountainous region, located at the eastern end of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range, in Spain. It encompasses the north of the Autonomous Community of Valencia, in Castellón provinc ...

. After the war, he graduated in Arts and held a doctorate in Law. He was appointed councilor at the Madrid city council and the same time he was Law professor at the University of Madrid. He was elected president of the Pax Romana organization between 1939 and 1946. He collaborated actively in the redaction of the Fuero de los Españoles, i.e. a sort of bill of rights promulgated by Franco in 1945. He was appointed director of the Hispanic Culture Institute (1946-1948) and ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

(1948-1951), where he negotiated the terms of the 1953

Concordat A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 ...

From Francoist minister to Christian Democrat dissident

In 1951, caudillo Franco appointed him minister of National Education. He established a special commission to rehabilitate some teachers and scholars who were previously expelled from their tenures by the Francoism. His political stance was gradually sympathetic toward the Christian Democracy. In 1956 he confronted the minister of Interior about a students' riot and he was finally dismissed. Franco appointed him afterwards National Counselor with seat in the Cortes Generales#The Cortes Generales under the Franco regime .281939.E2.80.931978.29">Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Biography

Early life

From Francoist minister to Christian Democrat dissident

First Spanish Ombudsman

Writings

External links