FRANCO, FRANCISCO

born December 4, 1892, El Ferrol, Spain died November 20, 1975, Madrid Francisco Franco, 1954. in full Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Tedulo Franco Bahamonde, byname El Caudillo (The Leader) general and leader of the Nationalist forces that overthrew the Spanish democratic republic in the Spanish Civil War (193639); thereafter he was the head of the government of Spain until 1973 and head of state until his death in 1975. Additional reading The best biography of Franco is Paul Preston, Franco: A Biography (1993, reissued 1995). Another study of his life is J.P. Fusi, Franco: A Biography (1987; originally published in Spanish, 1985). Stanley G. Payne, The Franco Regime, 19361975 (1987, reissued 2000), is a detailed analysis of the period.