Teodoro González de Zárate

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Teodoro González de Zárate
Mayor of Vitoria
In office
22 February 1936 – July 1936
Preceded byManuel Díaz de Junguitu
Succeeded byTomás Alfaro [es]
In office
5 June 1931 – 3 September 1934
Succeeded byLuis Ginés Ostolaza
Personal details
Born(1881-11-09)9 November 1881
Vitoria, Álava, Spain
Died31 March 1937(1937-03-31) (aged 55)
Azazeta pass, Álava, Spain
Political partyRepublican Left
Other political
affiliations
Autonomous Republican Party (before 1934)

Teodoro González de Zárate Sáenz (9 November 1881 – 31 March 1937) was a Spanish politician who served as mayor of Vitoria during the Second Spanish Republic. He was killed by Francoist forces during the Spanish Civil War.

Biography[edit]

Born in Vitoria, Teodoro González de Zárate had been a businessman before entering politics. He was elected to the city council in April 1931.[1] In the election, right-wing candidates won a majority in the city council (16 seats, compared to the 15 seats held by republicans and socialists). However, the partial annulment of the results and subsequent election rerun gave a majority to the left. On June 5, González de Zárate was named mayor.[2] The republican members of the city council had been elected on the Autonomous Republican Party ticket. This was a local organization, and most of them joined other republican parties starting in August 1931. González de Zárate, who served as president of the party,[3] later joined Republican Left.[4]

As mayor, González de Zárate criticized the 1931 proposal for a Basque statute of autonomy on the basis that it would harm the economic model of Álava, he also described it as an imposition from rural politicians against urban areas.[3] However, he campaigned in favor of the 1933 proposed statue of autonomy.[1] In August 1934, the city council elected a commission to defend the Basque Economic Agreement against a government initiative to reduce taxes on wine, which would have led to a significant reduction in tax revenue for the municipal government. On September 3, the government dismissed the councilmen who had taken part in the election of the commission. Luis Ginés Ostolaza, a Radical Republican, was elected mayor the next day.[5] Ginés Ostolaza resigned in December, being replaced as mayor by Manuel Díaz de Junguitu.[6]

After the 1936 general election, the government reinstated the city council elected in 1931 and González de Zárate was reelected as mayor.[7] He was succeed on an interim basis by Tomás Alfaro [es], who held the mayorship briefly during July 1936 before being deposed in the aftermath of the coup that led to the Spanish Civil War.[8] Teodoro González de Zárate was arrested on September 17 by Requetés. On March 31, 1937, coinciding with the start of the Biscay Campaign,[9] González de Zárate and other 15 prisoners were taken out of prison in order to be executed on orders of Emilio Mola.[1] They were killed on the night of March 31–April 1 in the Azazeta pass.[10]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Arozamena Ayala, Ainhoa. "Zarate, Teodoro González de". Auñamendi Encyclopedia (in Spanish). Eusko Ikaskuntza. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  2. ^ de Pablo, pp. 255–256.
  3. ^ a b Penche González, Jon (2011). "Los republicanos y el problema vasco en la Segunda República" (PDF). Alcores: revista de historia contemporánea (in Spanish) (11): 184. ISSN 1886-8770.
  4. ^ de Pablo, p. 268.
  5. ^ de Pablo, pp. 260–261.
  6. ^ de Pablo, p. 262.
  7. ^ de Pablo, pp. 263.
  8. ^ Sáenz de Ugarte Ruiz de Lazcano, José Luis. "Tomás Alfaro Fournier". Diccionario biográfico español (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  9. ^ Cantabrana Morras, Iker (2004). "Lo viejo y lo nuevo: Diputación-FET de las JONS. La convulsa dinámica política de la "leal" Álava (Primera parte: 1936-1938)" (PDF). Sancho el sabio: Revista de cultura e investigación vasca (in Spanish) (21): 160. ISSN 1131-5350.
  10. ^ Carazo, Ander (31 March 2022). "Vitoria homenajea bajo la lluvia a los 16 fusilados en Azáceta". El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2024.

Sources[edit]