Eduardo Dato

{{Short description|19/20th-century Spanish politician (1856 – 1921)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Eduardo Dato

| image = EDato.jpg

| caption = Photograph by Kaulak

| office = Prime Minister of Spain

| term_start = 28 April 1920

| term_end = 8 March 1921

| monarch = Alfonso XIII

| predecessor = Manuel Allendesalazar

| successor = Gabino Bugallal {{small|(Acting)}}

| term_start2 = 11 June

| term_end2 = 3 November 1917

| monarch2 = Alfonso XIII

| predecessor2 = Manuel García Prieto

| successor2 = Manuel García Prieto

| term_start3 = 27 October 1913

| term_end3 = 9 December 1915

| monarch3 = Alfonso XIII

| predecessor3 = Count of Romanones

| successor3 = Count of Romanones

| office4 = President of the Congress of Deputies

| monarch4 = Alfonso XIII

| term_start4 = 14 May 1907

| term_end4 = 14 April 1910

| predecessor4 = José Canalejas

| successor4 = Count of Romanones

| birth_date = 12 August 1856

| birth_place = A Coruña, Spain

| death_date = {{death date and age|1921|03|08|1856|08|12|df=y}}

| death_place = Madrid, Spain

| resting_place = Pantheon of Illustrious Men

| spouse = María de Barrenechea, 1st Duchess of Dato

| children = 3

| party = Conservative

| signature = Firma de Eduardo Dato.svg

| honorific_prefix = The Most Excellent

| honorific_suffix =

| office5 = Mayor of Madrid

| predecessor5 = Alberto Aguilera

| successor5 = Joaquín Sánchez de Toca

| termstart5 = 28 January

| termend5 = 5 May 1907

| office6 = Minister of Governance of Spain

| termstart6 = 4 March 1899

| termend6 = 23 October 1900

| primeminister6 = Francisco Silvela

| predecessor6 = Trinitario Ruiz Capdepón

| successor6 = Francisco Javier Ugarte Pagés

| monarch6 = Alfonso XIII

| office11 = Under Secretary of the Governance

| termstart11 = 26 June

| termend11 = 3 December 1892

| monarch11 = Alfonso XIII

| 1blankname11 = Regent

| 1namedata11 = Maria Christina of Austria

| 2blankname11 = Prime Minister

| 2namedata11 = Antonio Cánovas del Castillo

| 3namedata11 = Raimundo Fernández Villaverde
Manuel Danvila Collado

| 3blankname11 = Minister of Governance

| successor11 = Francisco Fernández de Henestrosa y Boza

| predecessor11 = Joaquín Sánchez de Toca

| office7 = Minister of Grace and Justice of Spain

| termstart7 = 6 December 1902

| termend7 = 20 July 1903

| primeminister7 = Francisco Silvela

| predecessor7 = Joaquín López Puigcerver

| successor7 = Francisco Guzmán y Carballeda

| monarch7 = Alfonso XIII

| termstart8 = 7 September 1914

| termend8 = 4 January 1915

| monarch8 = Alfonso XIII

| primeminister8 = Himself

| predecessor8 = Francisco Javier González de Castejón y Elío

| successor8 = Manuel de Burgos y Mazo

| office9 = Minister of State of Spain

| monarch9 = Alfonso XIII

| primeminister9 = Antonio Maura

| termstart9 = 22 March

| termend9 = 9 November 1918

| predecessor9 = Manuel García Prieto

| successor9 = Count of Romanones

| office10 = Minister of the Navy of Spain

| monarch10 = Alfonso XIII

| primeminister10 = Himself

| predecessor10 = Manuel Allendesalazar

| successor10 = Luis Marichalar y Monreal

| termstart10 = 5 May 1920

| termend10 = 8 March 1921

}}

Eduardo Dato e Iradier (12 August 1856 – 8 March 1921) was a Spanish political leader during the Spanish Restoration period. He served three times as Spanish prime minister: from 27 October 1913 to 9 December 1915, from 11 June 1917 to 3 November 1917, and from 28 April 1920 until his assassination by Catalan anarchists. He also held eleven cabinet ministries, and was four times president of the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

Career

Born in A Coruña, Spain, son of Carlos Dato y Granados (himself the son of Carlos Dato Camacho y Marín and wife Cayetana Ruperta Granados y García, de Vivancos e Acosta) and wife Rosa Lorenza Iradier e Arce, of Galician descent. He graduated in Law at the Complutense University in 1875.{{cite news |url=http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2014/05/22/madrid/1400788020_441843.html |title=Un colegio con cuatro Nobel |first=Felipe |last=Betim |date=23 May 2014 |access-date=20 May 2019 |location=Madrid |newspaper=El País |publisher=Prisa}}{{cite web |url=http://www.epdlp.com/escritor.php?id=10719 |title=Eduardo Dato |work=El poder de la palabra |language=es |access-date=20 May 2019 |author=M.E.}} He opened his law office two years later. Elected to the Spanish parliament in 1883, he became Under-secretary for the Ministry of the Interior in 1892.

He held the position of Minister of the Interior and Minister of Justice over the next fifteen years. In 1907, he ran for and won the position of Mayor of Madrid. In 1910, he entered the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. In 1913 he became prime minister for the first time. In 1915, he left that position, but would return to it for a short while in 1917. He became the 230th Minister for Foreign Affairs from 22 March 1918 to 9 November 1918. Then he moved to the post of Minister of State and stayed there until 1920, when he led the government as prime minister again.

Dato was a member of the International Permanent Court in The Hague (he became vice-president in 1913), member of the International Law Institute, administrator of the bank firm 'Banco Hipotecario' and president of the National Institute of Social Security, the Council of Public Instruction and the Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation.

Assassination

On 8 March 1921 in Madrid, while being driven from the parliament building and in front of the Puerta de Alcalá, Dato was assassinated by three Catalan anarchists, Luis Nicolau, Pedro Mateu, and Ramón Casanellas, who were riding a motorcycle. This was the second murder of a Spanish prime minister in less than a decade; in 1912 José Canalejas had been killed similarly. His assassination came amid rising unrest between trade unions, particularly the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, and the government.{{cite book |last=Beevor |first=Antony |title=The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |orig-date=2006 |page=15 |chapter=Royal Exit|isbn=}}

King Alfonso XIII of Spain posthumously made him a duke by bestowing the title "Duchess of Dato" on his widow.

Honours

Dato was conferred with the following honours:

Chain of the Order of Charles III
Knight Grand Cross of the First Class of the Order of St. Gregory the Great of the Holy See
Grand Cross of the Order of Christ of Portugal.
340th Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword of Portugal.
After he died, his wife was granted the title of Duchess of Dato in his honor.

Marriage and children

He married María del Carmen de Barrenechea y Montegui, Dame of the Order of Noble Dames of Queen Maria Luisa of Spain and Grand Cross of the Order of Beneficence of Spain, of Basque descent (- Madrid, 1926), daughter of Juan José de Barrenechea e Urdampilleta (himself the son of Pedro de Barrenechea y Zubea and wife María Ignacia de Urdampilleta y Lagarto) and wife Micaela Montegui y Mercaide (herself the daughter of José Manuel Montegui and wife María de la Concepción Mercaide), and had three daughters: