Ramón Rubial Cavia (28 October 1906 – 24 May 1999) was a Spanish

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

leader. He was a main leader of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in go ...

in the Basque Country and in Spain.

Revolutionary action

Born in

Erandio Erandio is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. The name comes from euskera ARANDIO that means plu ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. ...

, Rubial was a metal worker. He joined the

Unión General de Trabajadores The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT, General Union of Workers) is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). History The UGT was founded 12 August 1888 by Pablo Iglesias Posse ...

(UGT) in 1920 and the

(PSOE) in 1922. In 1934, he was arrested for revolutionary activities during the

Asturian miners' strike of 1934 The Asturian miners' strike of 1934 was a major strike action undertaken by regional miners against the 1933 Spanish general election, which redistributed political power from the leftists to conservatives in the Second Spanish Republic. The stri ...

, for which he was detained for seven months on a prisoner ship. He was then sentenced to seven years in prison for sedition, but pardoned after the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalitio ...

victory in the

1936 Spanish general election Legislative elections were held in Spain on 16 February 1936. At stake were all 473 seats in the unicameral Cortes Generales. The winners of the 1936 elections were the Popular Front, a left-wing coalition of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ...

. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

he defended the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

, becoming a commissar in the XV Bridage. He was captured in February 1937 and imprisoned in

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensi ...

, before being sentenced in 1940 to fourteen years in jail. Rubial was released in August 1956, and started to reorganize the PSOE and UGT in the Basque Country and in Spain working underground. President of the PSOE since 1976, he was elected senator for

in the first democratic elections of 1977. He was the Second Vice President of the

Spanish Senate The Senate ( es, Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. Th ...

. On 7 February 1978, Rubial was elected President of the

General Basque Council A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OE ...

, which prepared the Basque Country for the return to autonomous government. He held this position until 1979, when

Carlos Garaikoetxea Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza (born 2 June 1938) is a former politician from the Spanish Basque Country. He became the second elected ''Lehendakari'' ( President of the Basque Autonomous Community), after José Antonio Aguirre, who had held that ...

was elected.

Personal life

In 1944 he married Emilia Cachorro, a former civil servant in the agriculture ministry, by special license. They remained married until her death in 1982. Their daughter Lentxu was born in 1944, but he did not meet her until 1956. Rubial died in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

in 1999 at the age of 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubial Cavia, Ramon 1906 births 1999 deaths People from Erandio Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the 1st Senate of Spain Politicians from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Leaders of political parties in Spain Unión General de Trabajadores members Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Members of the 2nd Senate of Spain Members of the 3rd Senate of Spain Members of the 4th Senate of Spain Members of the 5th Senate of Spain Members of the 6th Senate of Spain Basque prisoners and detainees Spanish prisoners of war People convicted of sedition