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Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo (July 23, 1886 A Coruña, Spain - December 14, 1978 Locarno, Switzerland) was a Spanish diplomat, writer, historian and pacifist. He was the father of Nieves Mathews and professor/historian Dr. Isabel de Madariaga. He was the grandfather of Javier Solana. He graduated in engineering in Paris, France before gaining a Masters of Arts at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He then went to work as an engineer for the Northern Spanish Railway Company but abandoned this work to go to London and become a journalist, writing in English, for The Times . At this time he began publishing his first essays. In 1921 he became a press member of the Secretariat of the League of Nations and became chief of the Disarmament Section in 1922. In 1928 he became Professor of Spanish at Oxford University for 3 years, during which time he wrote 3 books on nation psychology called Englishman, Frenchman and Spaniard. In 1931 he was appointed ambassador to the United States of America and a permanent delegate to the League of Nations, a post he kept for 5 years. Between 1932 and 34 he was Ambassador to France. In 1933 he was elected to the National Congress, serving as both Minister for Education and Minister for Justice. In July 1936, as a classic liberal he went into exile in England to escape the eruption of the Spanish civil war. From there he became a vocal opponent of, and organised resistance to, the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. In 1947, he was one of the principal authors of the Oxford Manifesto on liberalism. He was one of the co-founders, in 1949, of the College of Europe. In his writing career he wrote books about Don Quixote, Christopher Columbus and the history of Latin America. He militated in favour of a united and integrated Europe. He wrote in French and German as well as Spanish and English. In 1973 he won the Karlspreis for contributions to the European idea and European peace. In 1976 he returned to Spain after the death of Franco. The Madariaga European Foundation has been named after him, promoting his vision of a united Europe making for a more peaceful world.
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