Carlos Saladrigas Zayas

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Saladrigas and the second or maternal family name is Zayas.

Carlos Saladrigas Zayas (Carlos Eduardo Ramón Saladrigas y Zayas; October 13, 1900 – 15 April 1956) was a Cuban politician and diplomat.

Carlos Saladrigas Zayas
1st Prime Minister of Cuba
In office 10 October 1940 – 16 August 1942
President	Fulgencio Batista
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Ramón Zaydín
Personal details
Born	13 October 1900 Havana, Cuba
Died	15 April 1956 (aged 55) Havana, Cuba
Party	Popular Socialist Party
Spouse(s)	María González-Llorente Esperanza Plasencia Cusa Carrillo
Children	2
Profession	Lawyer

Career

He was an abogado-notario who served as Senator (1936-1940), Minister of Justice (1934), Foreign Minister (1933) and (1955-1956), Prime Minister of Cuba (1940-1942), Ambassador to Great Britain, and presidential candidate in the elections of 1944.

During the government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, he was appointed Minister of Justice where he actively conspired against the One Hundred Days Government during his term. During the presidency of Carlos Mendieta, he held several government positions and in 1936, he was elected senator from the National Democratic Coalition.

Linked to Fulgencio Batista since the 1930s, he became Prime Minister in Batista's constitutional government. He was the presidential candidate for the Democratic Socialist Coalition in the 1944 presidential elections, in which he was defeated by Ramón Grau San Martín. Loyal to Batista, he supported him after the coup d'état of 1952 and was subsequently appointed Minister of Labor.

Personal life

He was the son of Enrique Saladrigas Lunar and María Luisa Zayas y Diago. He married his wife, María de las Mercedes González-Llorente y Martínez in 1923 and they had two children, Gloria and Carlos Saladrigas y González-Llorente. He later married Esperanza Plasencia y del Peso and lastly Cusa Carrillo.

References

• Fulgencio Batista: Volume 1, From Revolutionary to Strongman, Argote-Freyre, Frank (Rutgers, New Jersey:Rutgers University Press, 2006)ISBN 0-8135-3701-0
• Los Propietarios de Cuba 1958, Guillermo Jimenez Soler (Havana, Cuba: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2007)(in Spanish)
• Anuario Social de La Habana 1939, (Luz-Hilo, S.A.) (in Spanish)
• Directorio Social de La Habana 1948, (P. Fernandez y Cia, S. en C.) (in Spanish)
• Libro de Oro de la Sociedad Habanera 1949, (Editorial Lex) (in Spanish)
• Libro de Oro de la Sociedad Habanera 1950, (Editorial Lex) (in Spanish)
• Registro Social de La Habana 1958, (Molina y Cia, S.A.) (in Spanish)
• Otero, Juan Joaquin (1954). Libro De Cuba, Una Enciclopedia Ilustrada Que Abarca Las Artes, Las Letras, Las Ciencias, La Economia, La Politica, La Historia, La Docencia, Y El Progreso General De La Nacion Cubana - Edicion Conmemorative del Cincuentenario de la Republica de Cuba, 1902-1952. (Spanish)