Fernando de Santiago

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is Santiago and the second or maternal family name is Díaz de Mendívil.
Governor-General of the Spanish Sahara
In office
4 March 1971 – 24 April 1974
Preceded byJosé María Pérez de Lerma
Succeeded byFederico Gómez de Salazar
Personal details
Born
Fernando de Santiago y Díaz de Mendívil

(1910-07-23)23 July 1910
Madrid, Spain
Died6 November 1994(1994-11-06) (aged 84)
Madrid, Spain
Political partyFalange (1936–1980)
Movimiento Nacional
SpouseMaría Ignacia Morales de Los Ríos y Palacio
Children5
Military service
Branch/serviceArmy
RankLieutenant general
CommandsSuperior Polytechnic Army College

Fernando de Santiago y Díaz de Mendívil (23 July 1910 – 6 November 1994) was a conservative politician who served as

general in the Spanish Civil War and under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco
.

Biography

As an active soldier, Santiago participated in the

Spanish Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, rising to the rank of lieutenant general. In Francoist Spain
, he served as a professor and later director of the Escuela Politécnica Superior del Ejército (Superior Polytechnic Army College).

In the waning years of Franco's rule, from 4 March 1971 to 24 April 1974, the dictator gave Santiago a task as political as it was military: serve as governor-general of Spanish Sahara after Spanish forces had massacred members of a native independence movement in the "Zemla Intifada". Santiago presided over the introduction of limited home-rule in the region, which was eventually decolonized a few years later.

Following Franco's death on 20 November 1975, Santiago was named Vicepresidente del Gobierno para la Defensa (deputy prime minister for defense) of Spain's first post-Franco government, under Prime Minister Carlos Arias Navarro. Following Arias' resignation, Santiago briefly served as interim prime minister, from 1 to 3 July 1976.[1]

Under the administration of

gave up oversight of the defense ministry.[1] While Arias Navarro had been considered a Francoist, Suárez would turn out to be a reformer, putting Spain on the road to democracy. Santiago would become a harsh critic of Suárez' government. He submitted a resignation letter shortly after Suárez announced he would support the Political Reform Act
and its call for open elections; his resignation was accepted on 21 September 1976.

Out of office, Santiago continued to meet with conservative military officials disturbed by Spain's democratization and liberalization. In September 1977, he met with a group of army leaders—including

23-F
" coup attempt on 23 February 1981.

Santiago died in Madrid on 6 November 1994.[2]

Personal life

He married María Ignacia Morales de Los Ríos y Palacio at

Ana de Palacio. Santiago's wife died in 2006, and they had five children:[3]

  • Ana María de Santiago y Morales de Los Ríos
  • María Ignacia de Santiago y Morales de Los Ríos
  • María Fernanda de Santiago y Morales de Los Ríos
  • María del Dulce Nombre de Santiago y Morales de Los Ríos
  • Fernando de Santiago y Morales de Los Ríos

References

  1. ^ a b Spanish: Portal Fuenterrebollo: Gobiernos Transición, accessed April 30, 2007.
  2. ISSN 1134-6582
    . Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  3. ^ "Fernando de Santiago y Díaz de Mendivil, * 1910 | Geneall.net". geneall.net. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
Political offices
Preceded by
President of the Government of Spain
(acting)
1976 		Succeeded by
Adolfo Suárez González
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