Born Oct. 15, 1869, in Madrid; died Mar. 22, 1946, in Paris. Prominent Spanish labor leader.
In 1894, Largo Caballero joined the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (SSWP). In August 1917 he was on a committeethat led a general political strike; for his membership he was subsequently sentenced to life at hard labor. He was freed in 1918 after his election to the Cortes. From 1918 to 1937 he was general secretary of the General Union of Workers (UGT). During the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera from 1923 to 1930, he was state councillor. He was arrested in December 1930 forparticipating in a revolutionary committee and for preparing a republican coup d’etat. After the overthrow of the monarchy, he was minister of labor from 1931 to 1933. From 1932 to 1935 he was chairman of the SSWP. At the end of 1933, he headed the left wing of the SSWP, which had formed through his efforts. In 1934, after the October uprising of the Spanish proletariat, he was again arrested; he remained in prison until 1936. During the National Revolutionary War of 1936–39, he was prime minister and war minister of the Popular Front government from September 1936 through May 1937. While in office, he began steadily to move toward anticommunism. In 1937 he was relieved of his government posts and removed from the leadership of the UGT and SSWP. In January 1939 he emigrated to France. From 1943 to 1945 he was in the German concentration camp at Oranienburg; he was freed by the Soviet Army.