Antonio Maura Montaner
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Antonio Maura y Montaner (Palma de Mallorca, May 2, 1853 - Madrid, December 13, 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on two separate occasions:
- October 23, 1900 to March 6, 1902 and
- January 25, 1907 to October 21, 1909
Born into a rich family, he studied law in Madrid. He entered the Cortes in 1881 as a liberal delegate for Majorca, but later joined the Conservative party. In 1886 he held the position of vice-president of the Congress. As prime minister, he attempted to carry out a reform plan, but this was fiercely opposed by the liberals. He fell from power after the brutal suppression of an uprising in Barcelona in 1909. His abilities and authoritarian personality made him the hero of a semi-Fascist youth movement (Mauristas); however, when he later headed coalition cabinets with other parties (1918, 1919, 1921–22), he did nothing to advance non-democratic methods. Many of his followers later supported the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, but he remained aloof from the new regime.