Enríquez Gallo, Alberto (1894–1962)

Alberto Enríquez Gallo (b. 24 July 1894; d. 13 July 1962), military figure and president of Ecuador (nonelected 1937–1938). Born in Tanicuchi, León, Enríquez graduated from the Colegio Militar Eloy Alfaro in Quito (1912). He served as minister of defense from 1935 to 1937, using his position to reform and professionalize the military. Promoted to general in 1937, Enríquez took over the presidency in October, when the military ousted interim president Federico Páez (1936–1937).

Enríquez's administration undertook a broad-based reform of juridical, educational, administrative, and financial structures and legislation. His government also enacted a number of social reforms, including an advanced labor code and laws to protect children. Enríquez relinquished power to Manuel María Borrero after calling the Constituent Convention of 1938. Ten years later (1948) he was an unsuccessful presidential candidate of the liberal socialist coalition. He served as senator for the province of Pichincha from 1956 until 1960.

See alsoEcuador, Political Parties; Overview.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Enrique Ayala Mora, ed., Nueva historia del Ecuador: Época republicana, vol. 10 (1983), esp. pp. 103-104.

Luis Cristóbal Cabezas, 50 años de vida política y anecdótica del Ecuador (1986), esp. pp. 32-34.

Additional Bibliography

Coral Patiño, Héctor. Vida y obra del Señor General Alberto Enríquez Gallo. Quito: Banco Central del Ecuador, 1988.

Martz, John D. The Military Coup d'État as a Political Process: Ecuador, 1948–1966. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977.

                         Linda Alexander RodrÍguez