Iñaki Urdangarín, Duke of Palma de Mallorca
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Don Ignacio (Iñaki) Urdangarín Liebaert, 1st Duke Consort of Palma de Mallorca, Grandee of Spain (born Zumárraga, Guipúzcoa, 15 January 1968) is the husband of the Infanta Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, the youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain. He is styled as His Excellency The Duke of Palma de Mallorca.
He was born of Basque Juan María Urdangarín Berriochoa (b. Zumárraga, 19 September 1932) and wife Belgian (both Walloon and Flemish descent) Claire Liebaert Courtain (b. ca. 1945) and has spent almost all his life in Barcelona. He has an older brother named Miguel (Mikel) Urdangarín Liebaert (born in 1967, unmarried and without issue), and sister, Christina (married with four children, and now residing in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States). His paternal grandparents Laureano de Urdangarín y Larrañaga (Zumárraga, 8 September 1898 - Zumárraga, 29 December 1982) and wife Ana de Berriochoa y Elgarresta (Villareal de Urrechua, 31 August 1902 - Zumárraga, 27 February 1996) were entirely from Basque small nobility.
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[edit] Sports career
At the age of 18, he became a professional handball player with FC Barcelona, where he remained until his retirement in 2000. He became Spain's most successful handball player, winning more than forty trophies. Meanwhile, he studied at the Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE) in Barcelona, from which he received a master's degree in business administration.
As a member of the Spanish handball team, he participated in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympics, serving as team captain in 2000.
[edit] Marriage and children
It was at the 1996 games in Atlanta that he met the Infanta Cristina, whom he married in Barcelona on 4 October 1997. They have four children, all born in Barcelona:
- Juan Valentín de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (born 29 September 1999)
- Pablo Nicolás Sebastián de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (born 6 December 2000)
- Miguel de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (born 30 April 2002)
- Irene de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (born 5 June 2005)
They live in Barcelona, where Urdangarín is director of planning and development for Motorpress Ibérica and a founding partner of Noos Consultoría Estratégica.
He has been a member of the Spanish Olympic Committee since 4 April 2001, and was elected first deputy chairman on 16 February 2004. In 2001, the Duke of Palma received the Grand Cross of the Spanish Royal Order of the Sports Merit (Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo).[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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