Diego Martínez Barrio

Received secondary education; worked in a printing-house, then as a journalist; joined the Unión Republicana (Republican Union) in 1903; contributed to forming the Partido Radical (Radical Party) in Seville (1907); served in Seville municipal council (1910-1913, 1920-1923); as a republican leader, he was persecuted during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera; served as minister of communications (15 Apr 1931 - 16 Dec 1931) in the first two republican governments; was elected a deputy for Seville to the Constituent Cortes (Cortes Constituyentes, 1931-1933); minister of the interior (12 Sep 1933 - 8 Oct 1933) in the cabinet of Alejandro Lerroux y García; was appointed President of the Council of Ministers (8 Oct 1933 - 16 Dec 1933); resigned after his government accomplished the task of holding first general election to the Cortes; elected to the Cortes where he represented Seville (1933-1935) and Madrid (1936-1939); minister of war (16 Dec 1933 - 23 Jan 1934), Vice-President of the Council of Ministers (22 Dec 1933 - 3 Mar 1934), and minister of the interior (23 Jan 1934 - 3 Mar 1934) in the second cabinet of Lerroux; distanced from Lerroux and formed the Partido Radical Demócrata (Democratic Radical Party), which eventually merged into the newly established Unión Republicana (Republican Union) in 1934; was elected President of the Cortes (interim 16 Mar 1936 - 3 Apr 1936, permanent 3 Apr 1936 - 30 Mar 1939); upon the removal from office of President of the Republic Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, assumed the presidency (7 Apr 1936 - 11 May 1936) as a constitutional successor until the next election; was appointed President of the Council of Ministers (19 Jul 1936 - 19 Jul 1936), but resigned the same day being unable to form a stable government; shortly before the end of the Civil War, he presided at the last session of the Cortes on Spanish soil at Figueras (1 Feb 1939 - 2 Feb 1939); fled to France (5 Feb 1939); presided the meetings of the Diputación Permanente de las Cortes (Standing Committee of the Cortes) in Paris until 30 Mar 1939; moved to Mexico; was elected Presidente Interino de la República (Interim President of the Republic) by votes of 96 deputies of the Cortes gathered at Mexico City (17 Aug 1945); acted as top official of the Spanish government-in-exile until his death. Biography source: [4]