Lluís Companys
Lluís Companys | |
|---|---|
| 123rd President of the Government of Catalonia | |
| In office 25 December 1933 – 15 October 1940 Acting until 1 January 1934 In exile from 23 January 1939 to 15 October 1940 | |
| President | Niceto Alcalá-Zamora Manuel Azaña |
| Preceded by | Francesc Macià |
| Succeeded by | Josep Irla |
| 4th Acting President of the Catalan Republic | |
| In office 6 October 1934 – 7 October 1934 | |
| Preceded by | Francesc Macià (1931) |
| Succeeded by | Himself as President of the Government of Catalonia |
| Minister of the Navy | |
| In office 20 June 1933 – 12 September 1933 | |
| Prime Minister | Manuel Azaña |
| Preceded by | José Giral |
| Succeeded by | Vicente Iranzo Enguita |
| 1st President of the Parliament of Catalonia | |
| In office 14 December 1932 – 20 June 1933 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Joan Casanovas i Maristany |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 June 1882 El Tarròs, Urgell, Catalonia, Spain |
| Died | 15 October 1940 (aged 58) Montjuïc, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Political party | Catalan Republican Party Republican Left of Catalonia |
| Spouse(s) | Mercè Micó (div.) Carme Ballester |
| Children | Lluís (1911–1956) |
Lluís Companys i Jover (Catalan pronunciation: [ʎuˈis kumˈpaɲs]; 21 June 1882 – 15 October 1940) was a Catalan politician who served as president of Catalonia, Spain from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War.
Companys was a lawyer close to the labour movement and one of the most prominent leaders of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) political party, founded in 1931. He had a key role in the events of the proclamation and first steps of the Second Spanish Republic. Appointed president of the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1934, after the death of the previous president, Francesc Macià, his government tried to consolidate the recently acquired Catalan self-government and implement a progressive agenda, despite the internal difficulties. Opposed to the inclusion of the right-wing CEDA party in the coalition Spanish government during the strikes and insurgency in October 1934, on 6 October he proclaimed a new Catalan State. He and the Catalan government were subsequently arrested and imprisoned.
After the left-wing Popular Front won the Spanish national election in 1936, Companys was pardoned, and he returned to head the fractious Catalan government. He remained president during the Spanish Civil War, loyal to the Republican faction. A refugee in France after the Republican defeat in 1939, he was arrested in 1940 by the secret police of Nazi Germany, the Gestapo. Extradited back to Francoist Spain, he was executed on 15 October 1940.