Antonio Fontan
Antonio Fontán Pérez (born October 15, 1923 in Seville , † January 14, 2010 in Madrid ) was a Spanish linguist, journalist and politician. In 1977 he was the first President of the Democratic Senate and in 1978 co-author of the Spanish Constitution .
Life
Fontán was born in Seville, the son of a military engineer. He studied philosophy and classical philology in Seville and Madrid; He then completed a journalistic training, which he completed in 1954. Fontán was a professor at the universities of Granada, Madrid and Navarra .
He founded the weekly La Actualidad Española and later the monthly Nuestro Tiempo and worked as their respective director before moving to the capital's only opposition daily "Madrid" at the end of 1966. As director of this newspaper he advocated freedom of the press and the transformation of the totalitarian regime into a democracy. The regime banned the newspaper several times, forcing Fontán to resign in 1971 and closing the newspaper for good shortly afterwards.
Fontán was a well-known member of the Catholic lay organization Opus Dei .
Political activity
In the first free elections in 1977 he was elected to the Senate, whose first president he was until 1979. From 1979 to 1982 he was a member of parliament. In his second cabinet, Adolfo Suárez appointed him Minister for Territorial Administration (Ministro de Administración Territorial) from 1979 to 1982.
Honors
King Juan Carlos I appointed him Marquis of Guadalcanal in 2008 for his services to political freedom.
For his commitment to freedom of the press during the Franco regime , the International Press Institute (IPI) named him one of the "Heroes of Press Freedom" in 2000.
Web links
- Biographical data ( memento of November 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the Spanish Senate (Spanish)
- Adiós a nuestro primer director , obituary on the website of the Universidad de Navarra (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ^ Stefan Beig: A campaigner for freedom of the press , Wiener Zeitung , January 19, 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fontan, Antonio |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fontán Pérez, Antonio (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish linguist, journalist and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 15, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Seville |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 14, 2010 |
| Place of death | Madrid |