Nicolás Salmerón Alonso (10 April 1838 – 21 September 1908) was a Spanish politician and president of the

First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic (), was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after the abdication of King ...

Biography

He was born at Alhama la Seca in the

province of Almería Almería (, also ; ) is a province of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It was named after the Arab ruler of Taifa, Banu Al-Miri. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is the homony ...

, was educated at

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

and became assistant professor of literature and philosophy at Madrid. The last years of the reign of

Isabella II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

were times of growing discontent with her government and with the monarchy. Salmerón joined a small party who advocated for the establishment of a republic. He was director of the opposition paper ''La Discusión'', and co-operated with Emilio Castelar on ''La Democracia''. In 1865 he was named one of the members of the directing committee of the Republican Party. In 1867 he was imprisoned with other suspects. When the revolution of September 1868 broke out, he was at Almería recovering from a serious illness. Salmerón was elected to 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 ...

'' in 1871, and though he did not belong to the Socialist Party, defended its right to toleration. When Amadeo of Savoy resigned the Spanish crown on 11 February 1873 Salmerón was naturally marked out to be a leader of the party which endeavoured to establish a republic in Spain. While serving as minister of justice in the Figueras cabinet, he abolished the death penalty. He was subsequently elected president of the ''Cortes'', and then, on 18 July 1873, president of the Executive Power of the Republic, in succession to Francisco Pi y Margall. He became president at a time when the Federalist Party had thrown all the south of Spain into

anarchy Anarchy is a form of society without rulers. As a type of stateless society, it is commonly contrasted with states, which are centralized polities that claim a monopoly on violence over a permanent territory. Beyond a lack of government, it can ...

. Salmerón was compelled to use the troops to restore order. When, however, he found that the generals insisted on executing rebels taken in arms, he resigned (September 6) on the ground that he was opposed to capital punishment. He was again elected president of the Cortes on September 9. His successor, Castelar, was compelled to restore order by drastic means. Salmerón took part in the attack made on him in the ''Cortes'' on 3 January 1874, which provoked the generals into closing the chamber and establishing a provisional military government. Salmerón went into exile and remained abroad till 1881, when he was recalled by Sagasta. In 1886, he was elected to the ''Cortes'' as Progressive deputy for

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 ...

, and unsuccessfully endeavoured to combine the jarring republican factions into a party of practical moderate views. In 1889, he was the attorney for the defense in the trial for the crime of Fuencarral street in Madrid. On 18 April 1907 he was shot at, but not wounded, in the streets of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

by a member of the more extreme Republican Party. He died at Pau on 21 September 1908 at the age of 70. He was the last living president of the

Human rights prize in his name

Since 2009 the Nicolás Salmerón Human Rights Prize has been awarded, arising from the initiative of the

Ateneo de Madrid The Ateneo de Madrid ("Athenæum of Madrid") is a private cultural institution located in the capital of Spain that was founded in 1835. Its full name is ''Ateneo Científico, Literario y Artístico de Madrid'' ("Scientific, Literary and Artistic ...

. The award is organized by the International Foundation for Human Rights and delivered at the Ateneo headquarters every December 10th on the anniversary of the approval by the United Nations of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

. Among the winners in the different categories are

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

(2020),

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

(2009), la Casa Sefarad-Israel (2010),

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and former politician who served as the 56th president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice ...

(2011), El Intermedio y El Gran Wyoming (2012), Jesús Caldera (2012), Jordi Évole (2013), Pedro González Zerolo y Marcos Ana (2014)

References

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmeron y Alonso, Nicolas 1838 births 1908 deaths People from the Province of Almería Democratic Party (Spain) politicians Republican Union Party (Spain) politicians Justice ministers of Spain Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish Restoration Politicians from Andalusia Complutense University of Madrid alumni University of Granada alumni Government ministers during the First Spanish Republic Presidents of the Executive Power of the First Spanish Republic Spanish political party founders