José Antonio Primo de Rivera death (although his sentence was commuted). Franco appointed his own brother-in-law Serrano Suñer to replace him. The reign of Francisco Franco nurtured a convenient cult of personality around the dead figure of Primo de Rivera whom Falangists dubbed "El Ausente" (The Missing One). The founder of Falange was anointed a martyr of the "crusade against Marxism." Notwithstanding the apparent veneration by the Francoist State, it remains true that the Missing One's demise had removed a dangerous opponent: Primo de Rivera had been Marquess, a doctor of civil law, a political thinker; Franco owned no comparable pedigree, no comparable education and
Miguel Maura Miguel Maura Miguel Maura Gamazo (13 December 1887 Madrid – 3 June 1971 Zaragoza) was a Spanish politician of the Restoration and the Second Republic. Maura was a son of the leading Conservative politician of the Restoration monarchy, Antonio Maura. In 1916 he was elected to the Cortes by the district of Alicante. At first a supporter of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera he moved from a monarchist position towards a moderate republicanism. He jointly founded, with Niceto Alcalá Zamora, the Liberal Republican Right (DLR), on 14 July 1930. The DLR looked to capture the centre ground of Spanish