Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions.
Early life
Maura was born in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, he was the seventh child in a family of ten siblings, His parents were Bartolomé, owner of a tannery, and Margarita, who devoted herself entirely to the care of her family.[1]
He moved to study law in Madrid.[2] There, he met the brothers Trifino and Honorio Gamazo Calvo. This connection provided him an opportunity to intern at the law firm of Mr. Germán Gamazo, setting the stage for his future career in law and politics.
In 1878, Maura married Constancia Gamazo y Calvo, the sister of Germán Gamazo. They had several sons and a daughter together, many of whom have been prominent in Spanish politics.
Early Political career
He was elected a Congressman at Spain's Cortes Generales (Congress of Deputies) for Palma de Mallorca in 1881, which he would represent until 1923 in successive legislatures.
His political career was marked by rapid advancements, including an initial appointment as a Vice-president of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation from 1882 to 1884, and later as Vice President of the Congress of Deputies in 1886.
His political influence expanded significantly when he rejected a ministerial position in a Sagastino cabinet in 1888, only to accept the role of Minister of Overseas Territories under President Práxedes Mateo Sagasta from December 1892 to March 1894.[3]
He went served as Minister of Grace and Justice from November 1894 to March 1895 under the same administration. During this period, he was elected served times as President of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation.[3]
Although he had started his political career as a liberal, after the death of his brother-in-law Germán Gamazo in 1901, he assumed leadership of Gamazo's group, which would merge with the Conservative Party
He was appointed by President Francisco Silvela as Minister of the Interior from December 1902 to July 1903.
In 1903, he was elected as an academician of the Royal Spanish Academy (R.A.E.), the official regulator of the Spanish language, with the seat "U".
Premier for five times
He first assumed the presidency of the Council of Ministers in December 1903. That premiership would be shortlived, and he would resign exactly one year later, in December 1904, in which Barcelona experienced its first terrorist attack.[3]
He was President again between January 1907 and October 1909, in a period of rare stability that earned the nickname "Long Government". He fell from power after his suppression of an uprising in Barcelona in 1909, called the Tragic Week.
Maura was a hero of a youth movement, the Mauristas, that wanted him as a new head of state of Spain at a time of substantial resentment of King Alfonso XIII. That and Maura's ambition caused him to fall out with the King.
Maura later headed coalition cabinets with other parties but his time in power was limited. He was President between March and November of 1918, again in 1919, and between August 1921 and March 1922, following the Disaster of Annual.[3]
Disillusioned by the advent of Miguel Primo de Rivera's regime in 1923, he retired from politics. During Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, he remained aloof from both Primo de Rivera and the King.
Later Years and Retirement
Aside from his political work, he served in major roles in Spanish Society, including as Director of Royal Spanish Academy from 1913 to 1925, and as President of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation from 1916 to 1918.
He was also elected to the Moral and Political Sciences Academy, and the Fine Arts of San Fernando, in recognition of his gifts as a watercolorist.
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