The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Canalejas y Méndez, José
(hs´ känäl´häs mn´dth) (KEY) , 18541912, Spanish politician. After holding several cabinet posts, he became premier in 1910. A democratic radical who hoped to reform the Liberal party, Canalejas entered office with a dynamic program that included curbing the power of the religious orders and breaking up the large estates. His firm measures against labor unrest alienated many of his left-wing supporters. Frequently regarded as the most promising liberal statesman of early 20th-century Spain, his career was cut short when he was assassinated by an anarchist.