Excelentísimo Señor Felipe González Márquez |
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Prime Minister of Spain | |
In office 1 December 1982 – 4 May 1996 |
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Monarch | Juan Carlos I |
Deputy |
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Preceded by | Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo |
Succeeded by | José María Aznar |
Secretary General of the PSOE | |
In office 28 September 1979 – 21 June 1997 |
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President | Ramón Rubial |
Deputy | Alfonso Guerra |
Preceded by | Caretaker committee |
Succeeded by | Joaquín Almunia |
In office 13 October 1974 – 20 May 1979 |
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President | Ramón Rubial (1976–79) |
Preceded by | Rodolfo Llopis |
Succeeded by | Caretaker committee |
Leader of the Opposition | |
In office 4 May 1996 – 21 June 1997 |
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Monarch | Juan Carlos I |
Prime Minister | José María Aznar |
Preceded by | José María Aznar |
Succeeded by | Joaquín Almunia |
In office 28 September 1979 – 1 December 1982 |
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Monarch | Juan Carlos I |
Prime Minister |
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Preceded by | Position vacant |
Succeeded by | Manuel Fraga |
In office 22 July 1977 – 20 May 1979 |
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Monarch | Juan Carlos I |
Prime Minister | Adolfo Suárez |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Position vacant |
Member of the Congress of Deputies | |
In office 15 June 1977 – 14 March 2004 |
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Constituency |
Seville (2000–04) Madrid (1977–2000) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Seville, Spain |
5 March 1942
Political party | PSOE |
Spouse(s) | María del Carmen Romero (m. 1969–2008); divorced Mar García Vaquero (m. 2012–present) |
Children | Pablo (b. 1972) David (b. 1973) María (b. 1978) |
Alma mater | University of Seville |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
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Felipe González Márquez (Spanish pronunciation: [feˈlipe ɣonˈθaleθ ˈmarkeθ], born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish social-democratic politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of Spain, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996. His ascension is generally seen as the last step in the path to Spain's re-instatement of democracy which commenced with the death of Francisco Franco in 1975. After losing power to Partido Popular's José María Aznar in 1996, he briefly continued to lead the PSOE but was ousted following a controversy regarding illegal actions his government had taken in the struggle against ETA.
González was born in Bellavista, Seville, the son of a farmer who had a small dairy. He has a sister called Lola González Márquez, married to Francisco Germán Palomino Romera, by whom she has two sons, Felipe and Germán Palomino González. He studied Law at Seville University and started his career as attorney specialising in labor law. While at the University he met members of the clandestine socialist trade union Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT). He also contacted members of the PSOE and started taking part in the party's clandestine activity, necessary under the dictatorship of Franco. During that time he adopted the alias Isidoro and moved to Madrid. He was elected Secretary General of the Party at the Suresnes Congress, in France.
By the time of Franco's death, González had become the most prominent figure among the left-wing of the democratic opposition to the regime, and played a critical role, along with then serving prime minister Adolfo Suárez, in the Spanish transition to democracy. During the Suárez government, General and vice president Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado asked González not to raise the debate of the Civil War and Franquist repression until the death of those of his generation.