Adolfo John Canepa, CMG, OBE, GMH (born 17 December 1940) is a Gibraltarian politician. He has dedicated most of his life to politics and the development of Gibraltar, having served both as Leader of the Opposition and as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 8 December 1987 to 25 March 1988. During this period he was also the leader of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR). He is a former Speaker of the Gibraltar Parliament. Teaching career Adolfo Canepa was born in London during a period of World War II when most of Gibraltar's civilian population had been evacuated. Prior to his involvement in local politics, Canepa was already well known as part of a team of teachers at the Gibraltar Grammar School who helped the Christian Brothers to mould an entire generation of Gibraltarians. He later left teaching, at considerable sacrifice for his wife Julie and young family at the time, to pursue a career in politics. Political career Canepa was a leading member of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights. He was a candidate for election for the first time in the 1972 elections, winning a seat (the AACR won the majority by obtaining eight out of fifteen seats, with Joshua Hassan as Chief Minister) and thus becoming Minister for Labour and Social Security. During his time in this ministry, he led a wide-ranging review of the social security system. He later served in government as Minister for Economic Development and Trade, a ministry he held until he succeeded Hassan as Chief Minister. During Hassan's last term in government Canepa also served as Deputy Chief Minister. He was perhaps Hassan's closest political colleague and became his right-hand man at meetings in London with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over the Dockyard Agreement and also accompanied him as his Deputy to meetings leading up to the Brussels Agreement in the early eighties. Mayor of Gibraltar Canepa succeeded Alfred Vasquez as Mayor of Gibraltar between 1976 and 1978. He was later succeeded by Horace Zammit. Chief Minister of Gibraltar Hassan resigned without completing his term as Chief Minister in 1987 after an agreement on the shared use of Gibraltar Airport was signed by Spain and the United Kingdom, citing personal reasons. Being Deputy at the time, Canepa succeeded him as Chief Minister and leader of the AACR. However, Canepa lost the 1988 elections to Joe Bossano