born Jan. 10, 1880, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
died Nov. 4, 1940, Montauban, France
Spanish prime minister and president.
As prime minister from 1931 to 1933, he attempted to fashion a moderately liberal government. Elected president in May 1936, he was able to accomplish little before the Spanish Civil War broke out in July. He lost control of policy and remained in office as only a figurehead until 1939, when he went into exile following the victory of the Nationalist forces of Francisco Franco .
Mauñel Azaña y Díaz, detail of an oil painting by J.M. López Mezquita, ...
Courtesy of the Hispanic Society of America, New York