José María Gil-Robles y Gil-Delgado (17 June 1935 – 13 February 2023) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament in the European People's Party group, and was President of the European Parliament from 1997 to 1999.
Early life
José María Gil-Robles was born on 17 June 1935 in Madrid, during the Spanish Second Republic. He was the son of José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones, leader of the CEDA and a prominent figure in the period leading up to the Spanish Civil War, and Carmen Gil-Delgado Armada. He was the grandson of Carlist theorist Enrique Gil Robles and brother of Álvaro Gil-Robles, who was the second Ombudsman of Spain between 1988 and 1993.
Due to the Civil War, the family went into exile in Estoril, Portugal. Gil-Robles, in 1953, returned to Spain to study Law at the University of Deusto, from which he graduated with an Extraordinary Prize. He also had to manage the institutional crisis after the resignation of the Santer Commission.
In the 1999 European Parliament election Gil-Robles was reelected member of the European Parliament and succeeded on 20 July by Nicole Fontaine as its president.
Honours
- Robert Schuman Medal, EPP Group (1995).
- Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2000). and the Grand Cross of Civil Merit (Spain).
References
External links
- José Maria Gil-Robles's archives at the "Fondation Jean Monnet"