COMILLAS, CLAUDIO LOPEZ Y BRÚ, Marquis of. - B. May 14, 1853, in Barcelona; d. Apr. 18, 1925, in Madrid. The death of his elder brother led him to a life of more intense fervor; yet it also brought on a melancholy from which he was delivered by his marriage, which, however, left him without children (cf. *Civ. Catt.*, 1931, II, p. 232).
From his father he inherited important business enterprises, which he made prosper through his own skill and unremitting industry; the profits he largely spent in improving the conditions of his employees, in aiding public calamities, and in countless secret alms, in supporting activities, publications, and works for the benefit of the nation and of religion, foremost among these the seminary of Comillas, which he had rebuilt in a manner more worthy of the Holy See to which he offered II. Though aloof from partisan politics, he encountered grave contradictions. From 1900 he was at the head of the board of Catholic Action. He had Spain’s welfare at heart, was pro-American and colonialist, and in West Africa a pioneer, so much so that Cadiz erected a monument to him during his lifetime. He accomplished much in the social sphere, anticipating legislative measures; he organized Catholic workers’ circles, etc.
He wished to be buried in the habit of a Jesuit. The process for his beatification has been initiated.