Justo Somonte Iturrioz Explained

Birth Date:15 August 1891
Birth Place:Bilbao, Spain
Death Date:14 February 1954 (aged 62)
Death Place:Mexico City, Mexico
Justo Somonte Iturrioz
Office:Mayor of Bilbao
Party:PSOE
Predecessor:Mariano Arostegui Ugarriza
Successor:Federico Moyúa Salazar
Termstart:1 October 1923
Termend:26 February 1924
Unit:Euzko Gudarostea
Battles:Spanish Civil War
Occupation:Pharmacist, politician

Justo Diego Somonte Iturrioz (15 August 1891 - 14 February 1954) was a Spanish pharmacist and politician who served as the mayor of Bilbao from 1923 to 1924.[1] [2]

Biography

Somonte Iturrioz came from a family of pharmacists. Farmacia Pariza, a local pharmacy, was founded by his grandfather Justo Somonte Martínez, who was awarded by the Bilbao City Council with the title Ilustres bilbaínos y bilbaínas in 2007.[3]

Somonte Iturrioz presided over the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in Bilbao and was mayor of the city for five months, starting from 1 October 1923, succeeding Mariano Arostegui Ugarriza, until February 26, 1924, when he was dismissed by the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and replaced by Federico Moyúa Salazar.

During the Second Spanish Republic, he participated in the Revolution of 1934 and had to go into exile in France. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, he was appointed by the Basque government as the head of health in the north and the political commissar of Euzko Gudarostea. Later, he was also commissioner of various logistics units in Catalonia. After the war, he embarked on his way to Mexico in exile, he arrived in Veracruz on 27 July 1939.[4] In Mexico, he worked in laboratories and founded an asphalt factory.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 16 June 2013. Fundación Pablo Iglesias. Diccionario biográfico del socialismo español. Somonte Iturrioz, Justo.
  2. Web site: 16 June 2013. 31 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140831094201/http://www.ehu.es/biografiaparlamentarios/archivos/Alcaldes2.pdf. Universidad del País Vasco. Biografías/Archivo Alcaldes.
  3. Web site: 16 June 2013. 13 December 2007. Bilbao.eus. El ayuntamiento de Bilbao celebra un año más el acto de homenaje a bilbainos y bilbainas.
  4. Web site: 16 June 2013. Secretaría de Estado de Cultura. Gobierno de España. Movimientos migratorios Iberoamericanos. Ficha de Somonte Iturrioz, Justo.