José Antonio Aguirre y Lecube (6 March 1904 – 22 March 1960) was a Basque politician and activist in the Basque Nationalist Party. He was the first president of the Provisional Government of the Basque Country and the executive defense advisor during the Spanish Civil War. Under his mandate, the Provisional Government formed the Basque Army and fought for the Second Spanish Republic. Early life José Antonio Aguirre was born in Bilbao, Biscay, Spain. He studied in the Basque Country's first Ikastola, a school in which all lessons were given in Basque. He later studied law at the University of Deusto. After his father's death in 1920, Aguirre moved with his family to Algorta, near Bilbao. At 16 years of age, he had to become a father figure to his 10 younger brothers and sisters. After finishing his law studies, he began working in the family business, Chocolates Aguirre. He later took responsibility for the business and introduced many reforms, including free health care and paid holidays, which significantly improved conditions for the workers in the factory. He also donated part of the business's revenue to the poor and advocated for social housing. Until 1937, Chocolates Bilbaínos S.A. was the second-largest business in its sector in Spain. Aguirre was a football player for Athletic Bilbao; he won the Copa del Rey with the club in 1923. During the Spanish Civil War, he was one of the main promoters of the Basque Country national football team, which played in Europe and the Americas to raise funds for Basque refugee children whose parents had been forced into exile. In 1926, after completing his military service, he began work as an attorney at Esteban Bilbao's office. Soon after, he founded his own firm, which focused on political issues and the working conditions of the lower class. At the time, Spain was ruled by the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera. Aguirre, a Basque nationalist, joined the Basque Nationalist Party. The party was later divided into two political streams. Aguirre opposed the division, believing that the Basque Country was above any differences. He worked to unify the two factions and succeeded in 1930. Aguirre increased his involvement in politics and published articles in the newspapers Euzko Gaztedia and Euzkadi. As an example of his integrationist views and new ideals, in 1932, he proposed that the party should accept people who were not born in the