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
Fernando Primo de Rivera Fernando Primo de Rivera Fernando Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte, 1st Marquess of Estella, 12th Count of Peña Vélez, 17th Count of Torres Rovellas, 23rd Count of Sobremonte (24 July 1831 – 23 May 1921) was a Spanish politician, and soldier. Fernando Primo de Rivera was the son of Antonio Hermenegildo Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte, 22nd Count of Sobremonte (1787–1833) and his wife Ana María de Torres Rovellas y Peña Vélez (1811–1865); she was the daughter of Miguel de Torres Rovellas y Peña Vélez, 13th Count of Torres Rovellas, 8th Marquess of Peña Vélez (1764–1851). His grandfather was Bértrand