Alberto Ullastres Calvo

Alberto Ullastres Calvo (born January 15, 1914 in Madrid ; † November 15, 2001 ibid) was a Spanish politician , economist and lawyer who was Minister of Commerce between 1957 and 1965 and the first ambassador to the European Communities from 1965 to 1976 .

Life

Degree, economist and university professor

After attending school, Ullastres Calvo began studying law and economics at the Complutense University of Madrid and was actively involved on the board of the Juventud de Acción Nacional during his studies . During the Spanish Civil War he did his military service as a lieutenant in the Army Engineer Corps. For his services on the fronts in Asturias , Aragon and the Mediterranean, as well as in the 83rd Division of the Armed Forces in Galicia , he has received several awards, including the Medalla de la Campaña , the Cruz Roja del Mérito Militar, the Cruz Guerrera, the Medalla del Asedio de Oviedo and a mention in the war report for his efforts during the battle of Nules 1938. After the war he continued his studies and graduated on June 2, 1944 his promotion to Dr. jur. at with the dissertation Las ideas económicas de Juan de Mariana . He then became an employee of the economic institute belonging to the Supreme Council for Scientific Research CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) . As an employee of the National Economy Section of the Institute for Political Studies, he was significantly involved in fundamental projects at the Faculty of Political and Economic Sciences at the Complutense University in Madrid, where he initially took on the professorship for general and national economic history. In 1948 he took over the Chair of Political Economy and Public Finance at the Study Center of the University of Madrid and the Chair of Economic History at the Instituto Social León XIII . He was also a member of the editorial board of the journal Revista de Economía Política .

Trade Minister and Ambassador to the EC

During the Francoist dictatorship , Ullastres Calvo was appointed Minister-President Francisco Franco's successor to Manuel Arburúa de la Miyar as Minister of Commerce (Ministro de Comercio) in his government on February 25, 1957 , and held this office until his replacement by Faustino García-Moncó Fernández on July 7, 1965. During this time he created together with Finance Minister Mariano Navarro Rubio , who like him was a member of Opus Dei , 1959 the stabilization plan ( Plan Nacional de Estabilización Económica ) , which initiated the liberalization and internationalization of the national economy. As a result, he was instrumental in the politics of the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI). He also established relations with the European Communities and initiated Spain's accession to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Bank and the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).

After retiring from the government Ullastres Calvo was in 1965 the first Ambassador of Spain to the European Communities (EC) in July and as such was also in the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) accredited . He held these functions until the end of the Francoist dictatorship and in the first year of the transition to Spain in 1976. He then retired into private life for ten years, before becoming ombudsman of the Banco de Bilbao from 1986 to 1988 or since its merger with the Banco de Vizcaya was ombudsman of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV) from 1988 to 1995 .

Publications

In addition to his activities in teaching and politics, Ullastres Calvo also wrote numerous books and studies on the economic history of Spain and financial problems. His most famous publications include:

• Las ideas económicas de Juan de Mariana , Dissertation University of Madrid, 1944
• Apuntes de historia económica universal , 1945
• El florecimiento del capitalismo y otros ensayos de historia económica , translation of the book by Earl Jefferson Hamilton , 1948
• Política comercial española , 1963
• Acceso al mercado común , 1976

Web links

• Biography in Biografías y Vidas
• Biography in Grandes Economistas