Laureano López Rodó

Laureano López Rodo
Portrait of Laureano López Rodo by Ricardo Macarron, 1974, oil on canvas
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain
In office
12 June 1973 – 4 January 1974
LeaderFrancisco Franco
Preceded byGregorio López-Bravo
Succeeded byPedro Cortina Mauri
Personal details
BornLaureano López Rodó
(1920-11-18)18 November 1920
Barcelona, Spain
Died11 March 2000(2000-03-11) (aged 79)
Madrid, Spain
PartyPeople's Alliance
Other political
affiliations
Opus Dei (National Movement)
Regional Action
OccupationJurist, professor, diplomat

Laureano López Rodó (Barcelona, 18 November 1920 – Madrid, 11 March 2000) was a Spanish lawyer, professor, diplomat and politician who served as Comissioner (1962-1965) and Minister for Development Planning (1965-1973) during the rule of Francisco Franco. Later he was Minister of Foreign Affairs (1973-1974).[1]

Career

Laureano López Rodó studied Law at the University of Barcelona and, in 1943, he earned a Phd at the University of Madrid. He held a chair in Administrative Law at the University of Santiago de Compostela between 1945 and 1953. In this last year, he obtained the same chair at the University of Madrid.[2]

He was a member of the Opus Dei.[3][4]

In 1953 he started to work to the Spanish National Research Council. The team that directed this institution, José María Albareda and José Ibáñez Martín, promoted him into the political life of Franco's State.[5] His knowings in Administrative Law also allow him to proposed important plans that converted him in a key element to Franco and his collaborators, like Luis Carrero Blanco. Between 1956 and 1962 he served as Technic Secretary of Presidence.[6]

Later he served as Commissioner (1962-1965) and Minister for Development Planning (1965-1973). In 1973, in the decline of his political career, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. Later, in the Spanish transition to democracy, he served in the Cortes between 1976 and 1979.

He died during the night of 11 March 2000 aged 79. He is interred at Cementerio de la Almudena.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ Álvarez Tardío, Manuel (2022). "Personajes: Laureano López Rodó". Historia Hispánica (in Spanish). Royal Academy of History. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  2. ^ "LÓPEZ RODÓ, Laureano (1920-2000)". Catedráticos (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-19.
  3. ^ "Ministros de Franco pertenecientes al Opus Dei" (in Spanish). Opus Dei. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Los ministros de Franco que eran del Opus Dei". atreveteasaber.centroeu.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  5. ^ Veci Lavín, Carlos (2025). "José Ibáñez Martín: catolicismo, política y educación (1914-1958)". Catálogo de Publicaciones de la Administración General del Estado - CPAGE (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-19.
  6. ^ Hofmann, Anna Catharina (2019). Francos Moderne. Technokratie und Diktatur in Spanien. Göttingen: Wallstein. ISBN 978-3-8353-3521-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ^ Tobara, Sebastián (12 March 2000). "Muere Laureano López Rodó, el ministro de Franco que impulsó los planes de desarrollo". El País. Madrid: Prisa. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Fallece Laureano López Rodó, impulsor de la economía española en los 60". El Mundo (in Spanish). 12 March 2000. Retrieved 9 May 2019.