Birth Name: María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdés
Date of Birth: 11 June, 1900
Place of Birth: Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
Date of Death: 6 February, 1988
Place of Death: Madrid, Spain
Ethnicity: Spanish [Asturian, Castilian and Leonese], remote French and English
Carmen Polo, 1st Lady of Meirás, Grandee of Spain, was the wife of General and caudillo Francisco Franco.
She played an important role in Francoist Spain, playing a major role in the election of Carlos Arias Navarro (when her husband was already ill) and in censoring the press. Carmen was born in Oviedo, Asturias, the daughter of Felipe Polo y Flórez de Vereterra, a wealthy lawyer from Palencia, Castile and León, and Ramona Martínez-Valdés y Martínez-Valdés, from San Cucao, Asturias.
Carmen’s paternal grandfather was Claudio Polo y Astudillo (the son of Telésforo Polo Briz and Isabel Astudillo).
Carmen’s paternal grandmother was named Bonifacia Flórez Prado.
Carmen’s maternal grandfather was named Ramón Martínez-Valdés.
Carmen’s maternal grandmother was named Celestina Martínez-Valdés.
The surname Polo comes from France and England.