Adolfo Canepa

Adolfo John Canepa (born 17 December 1940) is a Gibraltarian politician. He has dedicated most of his life to politics and the development of Gibraltar, having served both as Leader of the Opposition and as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 8 December 1987 to 25 March 1988. During this period he was also the leader of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR).

Political career

Canepa was a leading member of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights. He was a candidate for election for the first time in the 1972 elections, winning a seat (the AACR won the majority by obtaining eight out of fifteen seats, with Joshua Hassan as Chief Minister) and thus becoming Minister for Labour and Social Security. During his time in this ministry, he led a wide-ranging review of the social security system. He later served in government as Minister for Economic Development and Trade, a ministry he held until he succeeded Hassan as Chief Minister. During Hassan's last term in government Canepa also served as Deputy Chief Minister. He was perhaps Hassan's closest political colleague and became his right-hand man at meetings in London with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher over the Dockyard Agreement and also accompanied him as his Deputy to meetings leading up to the Brussels Agreement in the early eighties.

Honours

On 10 December 2007 Adolfo Canepa was presented with the Gibraltar Award on behalf of the founding fathers of the AACR. The award was presented by the Self Determination for Gibraltar Group in recognition of the AACR's contribution to the political development and democratisation of Gibraltar.