| Original caption: “The Caudillo embraces his son-in-law, Dr. Cristobal Martínez Bordiú, during the audience granted at the El Pardo Palace to the members of the organizing committee of the International Symposium on Organ Transplants.” Spanish Fascist Dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco (December 4, 1892 – November 20, 1975) embraces Doctor Cristobal Martínez Bordiú(August 1, 1922 – February 4, 1998), 10th Marquis of Villaverde, heart surgeon. He was married to Franco’s daughter, María del Carmen Franco y Polo (September 14, 1926 – DEcemberar 29, 2017). He was Spain’s 1st heart transplant surgeon. Franco commandeered the Royal Palace of El Pardo as his residence after the Spanish Civil War and lived there until his death. The couple was married there on April 10, 1950. They had 7 children. Ruling Spain for 40 years, Franco tried to maintain the air of respectability while maintaining a Dictatorship that repressed free speech, alternative political parties, and practiced cultural genocide of anything considered not of Spanish language or culture. María del Carmen Franco y Polo chaired the Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco (“Francisco Franco National Foundation”) which promoted a revisionist legacy that denies or mitigates the Terror Blanco, the repression of dissidents during the 1st decade of his rule. In 2024, the Spanish Government sought to shut down the undación Nacional Francisco Franco under a 2022 law that forbids glorifying the regime. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0814.jpg |
| Image Size | 217.81 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1454 x 2048 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 9, 1969 |
| Location | |
| City | Madrid |
| State or Province | Madrid |
| Country | Spain |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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