Ricardo Samper


Ricardo Samper Ibáñez was a Spanish political figure during the Second Spanish Republic.

Political career

Samper served as Valencia mayor between 1920 and 1923. In 1931 he was elected as Member of the Parliament with Alejandro Lerroux's Radical Republican Party. He served first as Minister of Labor and later as Minister of Industry.
On 28 April 1934, he was appointed as the 127th President of the Government when Lerroux quit. As one of Lerroux's chief lieutenants, he was asked by Alcala Zamora to succeed Lerroux. He was also a follower of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, the novelist from the more liberal side of the party. Samper resigned the post in October, after losing CEDA's support amid the "Revolutionary Insurrection of 1934".
On 4 October, a new coalition was announced, and the "Socialist revolutionary committee" was announced. He served in the following government for one month, after which he quit politics.
Samper left Spain at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and went into exile. He died of tuberculosis in Leysin, Switzerland. In 1951 his remains were transferred back to Spain.