Leopoldo Menéndez López (30 April 1891 – 1965) was a Spanish military officer. Before the war, he was an adviser of the prime minister

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...

. A professional officer of the Spanish Army, he supported the Republican government during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

. Later he was promoted to Colonel and in the

Battle of Teruel The Battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel during the Spanish Civil War between December 1937 and February 1938, during the worst Spanish winter in 20 years.Hugh Purcell, p. 95. The battle was one of the bloodiest actions of ...

, he led the XXth Army Corps. In 1938, he led the Army of Levante in the battle of the

XYZ Line The XYZ Line, or Matallana Line, was a system of fortifications built during the Spanish Civil War in order to defend the capital of the Second Spanish Republic in Valencia, Spain. Unlike the Maginot Line, or the Iron Belt (''"Cinturón de ...

. In August 1938 he was promoted to General. On February 16, 1939, he was one of the officers who said to the prime minister

Juan Negrin ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanis ...

that was impossible to continue the resistance and in March 1939 he supported

Casado's coup The National Defence Council ( es, Consejo Nacional de Defensa) was the governing body in Republican Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The council seized power with Colonel Segismundo Casado’s coup on 5 March 1939 when ...

.Beevor, Antony. (2006). ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939.'' Penguin Books. London. pp. 390-392 At the end of the war, he fled Spain to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and later he went to exiled in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

and died there.

References

1891 births 1965 deaths People from Arratia-Nerbioi Spanish generals Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Mexico {{Spain-mil-bio-stub