Enrique Múgica Herzog (20 February 1932 – 11 April 2020) was a Spanish lawyer and politician.
An opponent of Francoist Spain, he spent three years in prison. He was one of the leaders of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), in Franco's time. He managed the establishment of diplomatic relations between Spain and Israel. He was a member of the PSOE, Minister of Justice (1988–1991), deputy (representing Gipuzkoa 1977–2000) and Ombudsman (2000–2010).
He was born in San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa. His father was a Basque violinist who was killed during the Civil War and his mother was a Frenchwoman of Polish Jewish origin. His brother Fernando was murdered by ETA in February 1996.
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Francoism
Despite allegedly not being a communist, his opposition to the Francoist system led Múgica to join the outlawed PCE in 1953, where he remained for a decade. In February 1956 Múgica, Javier Pradera and Ramón Tamames wrote a manifesto calling to a National University Congress not subjected to the authority of SEU, Falange's student union. This led to the first public university protest against the Francoist regime, and following a clash with Falangist activists they were arrested along with other opposing figures. This incident led to the destitution of Education Minister Joaquín Ruiz-Giménez, the decline of SEU which was sidelined from the Youth Front for losing the grip on the student body, and the start of the organized university protest movement. For his actions Múgica was imprisoned for three months in Carabanchel Prison.