Ricardo de Gondra

Ricardo de Gondra Lazurtegui (12 March 1885 – 7 April 1951) was a Spanish mining engineer who is best known for being the third president of Atlético Madrid between 1907 and 1909. He also worked briefly as a referee.

Early life and education De Gondra was born on 12 March 1885 in Bilbao, as the son of Ciriaco Gondra Robles (1857–?), a prominent civil activist, and Asunción Lazurtegui González (1863–?). He was the eldest of 8 other children, Leonor (1886–?), Pedro (1888–?), María Isabel (1891–?), Joaquín (1892–?), José María (1894–?), María Carmen (1895–?), Fernando (1897–1989), and Julio Gondra Lazurtegui.

Despite the insistence of the rest of the founders to elect Acha as the president, Gondra staunchly defended the appointment of Enrique Allende as president, stating that Allende, in addition to being from Bilbao living in Madrid, had a solvent economic situation and could be the best promoter in the birth of the entity.

Presidency of Atlético Madrid On 21 February 1907, de Gondra was elected the third president in the history of the Athletic club, a position he held for two years until 1909, the year in which, upon completing his studies, he abandoned the presidency to move to Bilbao to work as a mining engineer; he was replaced by Ramón de Cárdenas.

In the last reunion of the Board of Directors of OHL before the start of the Spanish Civil War, which was held on 25 April 1936, de Gondra was appointed as the vice president of the company at the proposal of José de Aresti, filling the position vacant due to the death of Evencio Cortina. During the Civil War, Gondra reported that the Management Committee had met periodically and just to summarize the agreements made in the minutes drawn up for this purpose.

Personal life and death De Gondra married María Mercedes Lazurtegui Jordán de Urríes (1890–1967). He died on 7 April 1951, at the age of 66, thus ending his 20-year-old stay as a member of OHL's board of directors. The vacancy left by de Gondra was then filled by Carlos Anabitarte Romero.