Biography for
Francisco Franco (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

4 December 1892, Ferrol, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Date of Death

20 November 1975, Madrid, Madrid, Spain (cardiac arrest)

Birth Name

Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde

Nickname

El Caudillo

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teoula Franco y Bahamonde was born on December 4, 1892 in Ferrol, Spain. He entered the Spanish Military Academy in 1907 and upon graduation three years later was commissioned as a lieutenant. His career rose when he was detailed to the colony of Spanish Morocco to fight against the Berber tribes. In 1916, he won the Battle of El Biutz which stopped Berber attacks against Spanish outposts. In 1923, Franco was appointed commander of the Spanish Foreign Legion and in 1926 at the age of 33 was named the army's youngest brigadier general. Franco returned to Spain in 1927 to lead the National Military Academy. He was assigned to quell a miners' strike in the Masturias in 1934 where he revealed himself to be a ruthless authoritarian by ordering the execution of over 2,000 laborers who were suspected of being Marxists. Franco proved to be one of Spain's staunchest anti-Communists and was invited to take a leading role in a right wing coup being planned by his fellow officers to overthrow the government of the Republic of Spain, which had large numbers of Socialist and Democratic members in its ruling circles. Franco accepted and shortly after the army revolt broke out on July 17, 1936 he was named commander of the nationalist forces with the title of "Generalísimo". Although he hoped to seize control of the government quickly, the struggle evolved into a full-scale civil war which lasted nearly three years. With heavy support and assistance from Hitler and Mussolini, who sent combat troops, tanks and other equipment, Franco emerged as the victor, capturing the capital of Madrid on March 28, 1939 which ended the Spanish Civil War. Named el caudillo (the leader), dictator for life, el Generalísimo Franco proved to be an astute political leader as well as a masterful military commander. Although he owed a great debt to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy for their aid during the civil war, he managed to keep Spain neutral during World War II despite pressure from his associates in the government to enter the war on the side of the Axis powers. Franco decided to let Spain recover from the terrible civil war which wrecked Spain's economy and military. After the Axis powers were defeated in 1945, Spain was isolated for some time before Franco tried allying himself with the Allied powers by bringing hope in the Cold War against the Communist Soviet Union. Spain was admitted into the United Nations in 1955 and was soon allied with the United States and other western powers. Franco served as leader of Spain until his death on November 20, 1975 at the age of 82.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Matthew Patay

Spouse

Carmen Polo

(16 October 1923 - 20 November 1975) (his death) 1 child

Trivia

General Francisco Franco, the dictator of Spain from 1939 to the 70s.

In July 1974, Franco suffered an attack of thrombophlebitis, an attack that signaled a host of successive afflictions over the following 16 months: partial kidney failure, bronchial pneumonia, coagulated blood in his pharynx, pulmonary edema, bacterial peritonitis, gastric hemorrhage, endotoxic shock and finally, cardiac arrest. After relatives asked doctors to remove his support systems, Franco died on November 20, 1975.

His death was a recurring running gag on the "Weekend Update" segments of "Saturday Night Live" (1975) during its first year on the air (i.e. "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!")

He was the last (and longest) surviving facist leader from the Nazi era.

In 1963, when Walter Cronkite interviewed him, Franco's questions and answers were submitted in advance and he read his prepared answers from off-camera. This was not unusual, the infamous dictater often granted interviews and always in this fashion.

His favorite film was Nobleza baturra (1935).

Personal Quotes

"I am responsible only to God and history."

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