Rafael Sánchez-Guerra Sainz (28 October 1897 – 2 April 1964) was a Spanish

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who was the 8th president of Real Madrid from 31 May 1935 until 4 August 1936. His presidency at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

coincided with the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and Sánchez-Guerra, a prominent Republican, refused to flee

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 ...

as it was about to fall into the hands of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

. He was captured, imprisoned by supporters of Franco before escaping to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he became a prominent member of the government-in-exile. During the war itself, Sánchez-Guerra had little active involvement in the daily management of Real Madrid, acting with non-official presidents Juan José Vallejo and Antonio Ortega (these two presidents were not elected), running things on his behalf. He served as

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

from 1946 until 1947 in the

government-in-exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...

under prime minister

José Giral José Giral y Pereira (22 October 1879 – 23 December 1962) was a Spanish politician, who served as the 75th Prime Minister of Spain during the Second Spanish Republic. Life Giral was born in Santiago de Cuba. He had degrees in Chemistry ...

. From 14 April 1931 until 28 March 1939, Sánchez-Guerra was a member of the

City Council of Madrid The City Council of Madrid () is the top-tier administrative and governing body of Madrid, the capital and biggest city of Spain. The city council is composed by three bodies: the mayor, who leads the city council and the executive branch of it; ...

Honours

* Copa del Presidente de la República:

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

References

External links

1897 births 1964 deaths Lawyers from Madrid 20th-century Spanish lawyers Spanish politicians Real Madrid CF presidents Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France 20th-century Spanish journalists {{Spain-footy-bio-stub