José María Benegas
José María Benegas | |
---|---|
Born | 25 July 1948 |
Died | 25 August 2015 |
José María "Txiki" Benegas Haddad (25 July 1948 – 25 August 2015) was a Spanish politician for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). His nickname "Txiki" is Basque for "small".
Early life
Benegas was born in Caracas, Venezuela. His father, José María Benegas Echeverría, was an exiled Basque Nationalist politician, who fled Spain in 1939 following the victory of Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. While his mother, Doris Haddad, was a Lebanese Jew who immigrated from Lebanon to Venezuela. Benegas moved to Spain in 1955 and studied in the Jesuit College before qualifying as a lawyer at the University of Valladolid in 1971. He then briefly moved to London to study English and Economics.
Entering politics
On his return, he joined the PSOE and the affiliated Trade Union, the
Basque regional politics
However, in February 1980, he resigned from Congress in order to head the PSOE list for Guipuzcoa in the
In 1989 Benegas returned to national politics when he was elected to the Congress, representing Biscay. He was re-elected at every subsequent General Election until 2011 and was one of the few members of the Constituent Cortes (1977-1979) in the 2011 legislature.
Personal life
Benegas was married to Maite Urabayen and was the father of two children. His son is the Spanish musician and songwriter Pablo Benegas[3] guitarist in the group La Oreja de Van Gogh. His sister, Doris Benegas, was the President of the Castilian Left party. On 25 August 2015, Benegas died in Madrid of cancer, which he had suffered from for several months.[4]
References
- ^ "José María Benegas Haddad". Euskomedia. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
- ^ "País Vasco". congreso.es. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
- ^ IMDB biography
- ^ Muere Txiki Benegas, figura clave del socialismo vasco, El Mundo, 25 August 2015