Ricardo Oreja Elósegui (1890-1974) was a Spanish Traditionalist politician. Initially in the Carlist ranks, he then joined the breakaway Mellistas, briefly engaged in Partido Social Popular, joined the primoderiverista state party Unión Patriótica, returned to Carlism within Comunión Tradicionalista and eventually settled in Francoist structures. He served in the Cortes during two terms between 1920 and 1923, and then during 5 terms between 1952 and 1965. In 1924-1927 he was the civil governor of the Santander province. In 1938 he formed part of the Gipuzkoan Comisión Gestora. In 1948-1954 he served one term in the Madrid city council, during some time as teniente de alcalde. In 1951-1965 he was sub-secretary in the Ministry of Justice. In 1934-1955 he presided over a large Gipuzkoan metalworking company, Unión Cerrajera.
Family and youth
According to one source the Oreja family originated from Orexa, a mountainous hamlet in the province of Gipuzkoa; according to another they were related to Arribe-Atallu, a neighboring small municipality in Navarre. None of the sources consulted provides information on Ricardo's distant ancestors. His paternal grandfather Martin Oreja Arzadun served as a rural physician; in the mid-19th century he was recorded in the Gipuzkoan branch of Sociedad Mutua General de Socorros Mutuos but was noted also as related to Amoroto (Biscay) and Lanciego (Álava). His son and the father of Ricardo, Basilio Oreja Echániz (1851-1914), was also a doctor; at least since the late 1870s he settled in the Biscay town of Ibarrangelu and in the early 20th century he served as its mayor. At unspecified time but prior to 1878 he married Cecilia Elósegui Ayala (born 1853), a girl from Villafranca de Ordizia and descendant to a much branched Gipuzkoan family. The couple had 6 children, born between 1878 and 1891, but 2 siblings perished in early infancy. Ricardo was born as the second youngest child.
It is not clear where the young Ricardo received his school education. In 1908 latest he enrolled in law at the University of Valladolid, but in 1910 he was noted as resident in Madrid. He was an excellent student and in 1912 he obtained Premio Montalbán. He graduated at Universidad Central in 1912. The same year he was admitted to the civil service entrance examination leading to the title of Abogado del Estado, but there was no follow up during the next few years. In 1916 he again entered the examination process, passed to successive stages and was eventually nominated the state lawyer; he ranked 18th on the list, topped by José Calvo Sotelo. He assumed an unspecified law position in Madrid, and in 1919 moved to another unspecified legal job, possibly in Direccion General de Prisiones. In 1920 he was admitted to Colegio de Abogados of San Sebastián and in 1921 he was admitted to Colegio de Abogados of Madrid.
In 1919 Oreja married María del Carmen Aspiunza García (died 1938), descendant to a Madrid bourgeoisie family originated from Amurrio. The couple settled in the capital. They had one child, Fernando Oreja Aspiunza (born 1925); he made his name as a surgeon, holding high positions in orthopedic association SECOT. None of 4 grandchildren from the Oreja Igartúa family became a public figure; most landed jobs in business. Oreja's older brother Benigno Oreja Elósegui emerged as the Spanish urology pioneer and served many years in the Francoist Cortes. The younger brother Marcelino Oreja Elósegui was active as a businessman; killed by revolted workers he became one of the best-known victims of the 1934 revolution. His son and Ricardo's nephew, Marcelino Oreja Aguirre, was foreign minister in the late 1970s, secretary of Council of Europe in the 1980s and EU commissioner in the 1990s. Ricardo's grand-nephews, Marcelino Oreja Arburúa and Jaime Mayor Oreja, are also recognized PP politicians.
Late Restoration
Political preferences of Oreja's ancestors are not clear, though all 3 brothers engaged in Carlism. Already during his academic years in Valladolid and in Madrid the young Ricardo was active in the movement, e.g. delivering lectures in local círculos or speaking during rallies like Fiesta de los Martires de la Tradición. In the 1910s the party was increasingly divided between supporters of the claimant Don Jaime and followers of the key theorist, Juan Vázquez de Mella; the points of contention were the question of broad right-wing alliances and Spanish stand during the First World War. All Oreja brothers tended to side with de Mella; when in 1919 the conflict erupted into an open confrontation they decided to abandon the dynastic Jaimista discipline and followed de Mella to build an own organisation.