Niceto Alcala Zamora

Niceto Alcalá Zamora , 1877-1949, Spanish statesman and president of Spain (1931-36). After holding several cabinet posts under the monarchy, he became a republican and was jailed for his political activity in 1930. He helped lead the successful revolution of 1931 and became first provisional and then constitutional president of the Spanish republic. A middle-of-the-road liberal, he was deposed by the Cortes on a Socialist motion (Apr., 1936) and was succeeded as president by Manuel Azaña. He went into exile first to France and then (1942) to Argentina.

Alcalá Zamora y Torres, Niceto (b. 6 July 1877, d. 18 Feb. 1949). President of Spain 1931–6 Born in Priego de Córdoba, he became a lawyer and an active Liberal. In 1917, he became Minister for Development, and, in 1922, Minister of War. He joined the opposition during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, and on 17 August 1930 was a co-sponsor of the Pact of Sebastian, which called for an end to the monarchy and the establishment of a republic. When this was achieved after the municipal elections of 1931, he became Prime Minister of the provisional republican government and drew up the Constitution of the Second Republic. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Azaña, who ensured his election as President. In this post, Alcalá Zamora called two elections, in 1933 and 1936, to secure a popular majority for a government. After an official review of his actions, he was impeached for his dissolution of 1936, which the report argued should have occurred two years previously. His impeachment constrained his successor, Azaña, to a much more limited role, despite the crisis of the Spanish Civil War. He was a widely respected head of state, and his dismissal was a severe blow to the fragile republic. In 1941, Franco sent him into exile, which he spent in Buenos Aires.