Juan Negrín
Juan Negrín López (Spanish pronunciation: [xwan neˈɣɾin]; 3 February 1892 – 12 November 1956) was a Spanish physician and politician who served as prime minister of the Second Spanish Republic. He was a leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Spanish: Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE) and of the left-leaning Popular Front government during the Spanish Civil War. He also served as finance minister. He was the last Loyalist premier of Spain (1937–1939), leading the Republican forces defeated by the Nationalists under General Francisco Franco. He was President of the Council of Ministers of the Second Spanish Republic and the Spanish Republican government in exile between 1937 and 1945. He died in exile in Paris, France.
The Most Excellent Juan Negrín | |
|---|---|
Negrín in 1938 | |
| Prime Minister of Spain | |
| In office 17 May 1937 – 31 March 1939 | |
| President | Manuel Azaña |
| Preceded by | Francisco Largo Caballero |
| Succeeded by | Francisco Franco |
| Minister of National Defence | |
| In office 5 April 1938 – 31 March 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Indalecio Prieto |
| Succeeded by | Fidel Dávila Arrondo |
| Minister of the Treasury | |
| In office 5 April 1938 – 31 March 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | Francisco Largo Caballero Himself |
| Preceded by | Enrique Ramos Ramos |
| Succeeded by | Francisco Méndez Aspe |
| Member of the Congress of Deputies | |
| In office 16 March 1936 – 31 March 1939 | |
| Constituency | Las Palmas |
| In office 8 December 1933 – 7 January 1936 | |
| Constituency | Madrid |
| In office 14 July 1931 – 9 October 1933 | |
| Constituency | Las Palmas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Juan Negrín López 3 February 1892 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria |
| Died | 12 November 1956 (aged 64) Paris, France |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Political party | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (1929–1946) |
| Spouse | María Fidelman Brodsky |
None of the leaders of the Second Spanish Republic has been as vilified as Negrín, not only by Francoist historians but also by important sectors of the exiled Spanish Left. The leadership of his own Socialist Party were among his detractors, including his friend and fellow socialist leader Indalecio Prieto. He has been depicted as primarily responsible for losing the civil war, leading with a dictatorial style, selling Spain out to the Soviets, and robbing the Spanish treasury.
According to the historian Stanley G. Payne, after the end of the civil war there was no person more hated than Negrín. More recent scholarship, like the work of Negrin's biographer Gabriel Jackson, attempted to dispel many of these accusations. According to Jackson, Negrín was a pragmatic, social democratic leader who allied with the Soviets to keep the Republican cause alive until the outbreak of a world war, which would grant Republican Spain more allies in Western Europe. The PSOE expelled Negrín in 1946, but he was posthumously rehabilitated in 2008.