Jesús de Cora y Lira, 1st Count of Cora y Lira (1890–1969) was a Spanish soldier and a Carlist politician. In the navy juridical arm he rose to general auditor, a rank equivalent to counter-admiral. He is known mostly as political leader of Carloctavismo, a branch of Carlism which during early Francoism advocated a claim to the Spanish throne raised by Carlos Pio Habsburgo-Lorena y Borbón.
Family and youth
Along his paternal line Jesús Cora y Lira was descendant to an established, noble Galician family. The Coras have been for centuries related to the province of Lugo and the comarca of Viveiro. Their first representative was noted in the 15th century and some grew to local regidores; also during late Restauración a distant Jesús' relative, Purificación de Cora y Más Villafuerte, apart from setting up a local daily El Progreso served also as a civil governor. Jesús' great-grandfather, José María de Cora Aguiar y Maseda, was a military and participated in wars of the Napoleonic era. His son and Jesús' grandfather, Dario de Cora y Cadórniga, joined the Carlists during the First Carlist War. His son and Jesús' father, Jesús Cora y Cora (died 1928), served in the navy, though not in combat units but as an official in its juridical branch. Specializing in crew contracting issues he grew to teniente coronel auditor and as head of Cuerpo Jurídico de la Armada became a distinguished figure in the entire Galicia, not infrequently reported in societé columns of the local press. At unspecified time he married Elisa de Lira y Montenegro; they settled in Viveiro.
The couple had 7 children, Jesús born as the second and the last son. All were brought up in fervently Catholic ambience; the eldest of the siblings José was also a Carlist and the two youngest sisters became nuns. The young Jesús was first educated in the neighboring Ferrol, where he frequented Colegio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, a local middle-class school. It is in the college that he met Francisco Franco, two years his junior, the acquaintance which was to last for decades to come. It is not known when the adolescent Cora completed his Ferrol education; he than moved to Madrid and enrolled at Universidad Central, pursuing law studies at Facultad de Derecho. He graduated at unspecified year though no later than in 1910; he then followed closely in the footsteps of his father, applying to Cuerpo Jurídico of the navy and having been nominated aspirante. Also at unspecified time prior to the mid-1920s Jesús Cora y Lira married María do Cármen López Prieto; nothing is known about his wife except that she outlived her husband. It is not clear whether the couple had any children. None of the sources consulted explicitly claims they had no issue, though no descendants are listed on genealogical sites, when discussing whereabouts of the Cora family on the societé columns the local press has never acknowledged any children and none are mentioned among many relatives listed in Cora's obituary.
Military career
In 1911 Cora was listed as asesor in the naval Cuerpo de Aspirantes, assigned to Viveiro. Having passed in 1918 to Cuerpo Jurídico de la Armada he assumed duties in Cartagena. In 1920 he was promoted to teniente auditor de cuarta clase, two years later reaching the third class. He left Cartagena and was assigned to Asesoría General in Madrid. His career continued with the 1923 advancement to teniente auditor de segunda clase; at unspecified date but prior to the spring of 1925 he was already comandante auditor, a rank equivalent to capitán de corbeta or major in most European armies. He is not listed as engaged in any naval combat operations, especially during the Riff War; it seems that until the fall of the monarchy he served performing office jobs in Madrid.
The Republican government embarked on reform of the army; the naval Cuerpo Jurídico was to be turned into a civil service. In September 1931 Cora was promoted to teniente coronel only to be released from the staff job and assigned to Ferrol. In December 1931 he was already listed as retired, which permitted his return – already as a civilian – to Madrid; it is not clear whether he resigned voluntarily or was pushed into retirement. Until the July 1936 coup he was not a single time noted in the press as holding a military assignment.