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That Obscure Object of Desire
(1977). His other
films included Orson Welles's eccentric
Chimes at Midnight
(1966) and Carlos Saura's
Elisa, vida mía
(1977), for which he won the
best actor award at the Cannes Film Festi-
val. His roles displayed his full range, from
period films, such as
Locura de amor
(1948),
in which he played Spanish kings to his
memorable appearance as a suave drug
kingpin in
The French Connection
(1971) and
its sequel (1975). Critics have described
him as the epitome of the elegant but
world-weary European gentleman, and he
was certainly the best-known Spanish actor
of his day. Appropriately he was named
president of the Spanish Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1992, a
title which he retained until the year of his
death, in which he was also making what
became his final film—the last of 150.
be a long series of
pronunciamientos
(military
revolts) in Spanish history by leading his
troops in a mutiny at C
ÁDIZ
. Refusing to
embark for repressive operations against
the rebellious Spanish colonies in the
Americas, Riego and his comrades declared
their commitment to the liberal constitu-
tion of 1812. As he marched north, raising
fresh outbursts of mutiny on the way, Riego
precipitated a liberal revolution that would
introduce the Trienio Constitucional (“Con-
stitutional Trienium”), a period of liberal
government in Spain from 1820 to 1823.
Even before the forces of Riego and their
adherents reached M
ADRID
Ferdinand VII
had appointed liberal ministers and vowed
to rule in accord with the 1812 constitu-
tion. Riego served successively as captain
general of G
ALICIA
and A
RAGON
and was
When the conservative forces of Europe
supported an invasion by a French royalist
army (“the 100,000 sons of St. Louis”) in
1823 to crush Spanish liberalism, Riego led
the resistance. Betrayed, captured, and exe-
cuted, he remained an iconic figure
throughout the 19th century, and the song
sung by his soldiers in 1820 became known
as the “Himno de Riego” (Riego's hymn).
During the period of the Second Republic
(1931-39) the “Himno de Riego” became
Spain's national anthem.
Riego y Núñez, Rafael del
(1784-1823)
Spanish military and political leader
Born in A
STURIAS
and educated for the law,
Riego joined the royal bodyguard regiment
in 1807, fought against the French invaders
in the following year as commander of an
Asturian unit, and was captured by the
enemy. He spent the next five years as a
prisoner in France where he appears to
have embraced the liberal ideology gener-
ated by the French Revolution. After escap-
ing from his captors he joined a force of
exiles in Great Britain and returned to Spain
to take part in the liberation of his country.
Rewarded for his loyalty by a colonelcy
under the Bourbon restoration, he soon
became disillusioned with the reactionary
policies of F
ERDINAND
VII. On January 1,
1820, he launched the first of what would
Rivas, Ángel de Saavedra, duque
de
(1791-1865)
Spanish writer
After fighting against the French invaders
of Spain during the P
ENINSULAR
W
AR
and
following the restoration of F
ERDINAND
VII,
Saavedra (then still heir to the dukedom of
Rivas) was denounced for his liberal sym-
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