Born Sept. 25, 1932, in Cebreros, Avila Province. Spanish political and state figure; lawyer. Member of the Spanish Trial Law Institute and corresponding member of the Institute of Political Studies.
Suárez studied law at the universities of Salamanca and Madrid. He became active in the National Movement in 1958 and served on the party’s staff from 1960 to 1964. Suárez was civil governor of Segovia Province in 1968 and 1969 and director general of Spanish radio and television from 1969 to 1973. In March 1975 he assumed the post of vice-secretary-general of the National Movement.
As secretary-general of the National Movement, Suárez in December 1975 was given a ministerial post in the first post-Franco government of Spain. He became prime minister in July 1976. In the parliamentary elections of June 1977 he headed the coalition of centrist parties known as the Union of the Democratic Center (UDC). In August 1977 the coalition became a political party with Suárez as its leader. In 1981 he was named honorary chairman of the UDC. Suárez resigned as prime minister in 1981.