José Calvo Sotelo (Tuy, Pontevedra, 1893-Madrid, July 13, 1936) was a Spanish political figure prior to and during the Second Spanish Republic.

An economist and jurist, he was secretary of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of the Ateneo Mercantil de Madrid and a University professor of the Central University. He was affiliated with the Conservative Party of Antonio Maura. He first served as an administrative officer in the Ministry of Grace and Justice. In 1919 he was chosen as a deputy to the Cortes for the district of Carballino (Orense), and in 1922 he was made Civil Governor of Valencia.

When Miguel Primo de Rivera became dictator of Spain in 1923 he appointed Calvo Sotelo as finance minister. Calvo Sotelo was forced into exile when the second republic was founded. Calvo Sotelo returned to Spain after he was amnestied in May 1934, becoming a deputy for Renovación Española. He soon became one of the most important right-wing political figures in the country. Calvo Sotelo unsuccessfully attempted to gain control of the Falange Española from José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1935. Calvo Sotelo was harshly critical of the republican government after the electoral victory of the leftist Popular Front in February 1936.

On July 12, 1936, a lieutenant in the republican Assault Guards and active member of the Socialist Party, José Castillo, was murdered by a Falangist group in Madrid. The next day, members of the republican Assault Guards and Socialist Youths took revenge by murdering Calvo Sotelo in a police light truck. His corpse was left in the cemetery by republican police. This event provided the impetus for a military uprising on July 17, 1936, led by Generals Emilio Mola, Francisco Franco and José Sanjurjo, which resulted in the Spanish Civil War.