Diego Abad de Santillán
Encyclopedia
Diego Abad de Santillán (May 20, 1897 — October 18, 1983), born Sinesio Vaudilio García Fernández, was an author
, economist
and leading figure in the Spanish
and Argentine
anarchist
movements.
, a mountain village in the province of León
in northwestern Spain
, in 1897, Santillán emigrated at the age of eight with his parents to Argentina
. From the age of ten he was attending night school, while working during the day at a variety of jobs, in particular on the railways. He returned to Spain in 1912, studying for his baccaralaurate in León, before entering the University of Madrid
in 1915 to read Philosophy
and Literature
. After the General Strike
of 1917 he was imprisoned in Madrid
, where he came into contact with the anarchist movement in the person of Tomás Herreros - and then, after release under amnesty in 1918, returned to Argentina, working as an activist for the anarcho-syndicalist
Federación Obrera Regional Argentina
(FORA), and editing its weekly newspaper La Protesta.
(IWMA) in Berlin
; while there he began to study Medicine
, and came to know Elise Kater, who was to become his wife. The first of many works on the history and theory of anarchism were published at this time – Ricardo Flores Magón
: Apostle of the Mexican Social Revolution
and Anarchism in the Labour Movement
both appeared in 1925.
In 1926 Santillán interrupted his studies to travel to Mexico
, where he assisted the Confederación General de Trabajadores
(CGT). Returning to Argentina, he continued his work for La Protesta, as well as for a new journal, La Antorcha, and completed The Anarchist Movement in Argentina: From Its Beginnings to 1910 (1930). In the late 1920s Santillán was a fierce opponent of the anarchist Severino Di Giovanni
, whose advocation of propaganda of the deed
led to a number of deaths.
When, in 1930, he was condemned to death for sedition, Santillán escaped to Uruguay
. From there he travelled to Spain on the proclamation of the Republic
in 1931, before returning to Argentina in secrecy to continue his militant activities and writing, including The Bankruptcy of the Capitalist Economic and Political System (1932), The Ideology of FORA and Trajectory of the Revolutionary Labour Movement in Argentina (1933) and Social Reconstruction: Foundations for a New Economic Structure in Argentina (1933). But by the end of 1933, he had returned once again to Spain, settling down in Barcelona
.
(FAI), becoming, in 1935, secretary to its Peninsular Committee, and editor of Solidaridad Obrera
and Tierra y Libertad; he also founded three new journals during this period: Tiempos Nuevos, Butlletí de la Conselleria d’Economia and Timón. After the Revolution
in July 1936, he represented the FAI on the Comité de Milícies Antifeixistes de Catalunya, which co-ordinated the various militias in Catalonia
- and which formed, in the early years of the Civil War
the de facto government of Catalonia. Anarchist economic theory seems to have been foremost in his mind at this time, as shown by the appearance of The Economic Organism of the Revolution (1936), published in the name of the anarchist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo
(CNT); this was later to be reissued under the title After the Revolution: Economic Reconstruction in Spain Today (1937).
Between December 1936 and April 1937 he served as Minister of the Economy
(Conseller de Economía) for the Generalitat of Catalonia
, while apparently maintaining anarchist principles of free participation
in politics. He was especially critical of the government and person of Juan Negrín
, and denounced the crimes of the Comintern
-loyal PCE (the Spanish Communist Party) in the Civil War. Two more books appeared at this time: The Revolution and the War in Spain (1938) and a bibliography of Argentine anarchist writings (1938). In April 1938, Santillán joined the National Committee of the Antifascist Popular Front, which formed from the union of the anarchist CNT and the socialist UGT
– but with the defeat of the Republic by Francoist forces in 1939, returned via France to Argentina.
: Why We Lost the War: A Contribution to the History of the Spanish Tragedy (1940) – later made into a film by his son, Francisco Galindo – The Crisis of Capitalism
and the Mission of the Proletariat
(1946), the section on Argentina in The Labour Movement: Anarchism and Socialism
Vol. III (1965), Contributions to a History of the Spanish Labour Movement (1962-1971), From Alfonso XII
to Franco
: Notes on the Modern Political History of Spain (1974) and Strategy and Tactics: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1976).
Further unpublished works, Ideas y suggestiones para una nueva estrategía revolutionaria, (Ideas and Suggestions for a New Revolutionary Strategy) and Delincuencia política, (Political Criminality), along with the rest of his extensive archives, are held in Amsterdam
at the International Institute of Social History
.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and leading figure in the Spanish
Anarchism in Spain
Anarchism has historically gained more support and influence in Spain than anywhere else, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939....
and Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
movements.
Early years
Born in ReyeroReyero
Reyero is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 146 inhabitants....
, a mountain village in the province of León
León (province)
León is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.About one quarter of its population of 500,200 lives in the capital, León. The weather is cold and dry during the winter....
in northwestern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, in 1897, Santillán emigrated at the age of eight with his parents to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. From the age of ten he was attending night school, while working during the day at a variety of jobs, in particular on the railways. He returned to Spain in 1912, studying for his baccaralaurate in León, before entering the University of Madrid
Complutense University of Madrid
The Complutense University of Madrid is a university in Madrid, and one of the oldest universities in the world. It is located on a sprawling campus that occupies the entirety of the Ciudad Universitaria district of Madrid, with annexes in the district of Somosaguas in the neighboring city of...
in 1915 to read Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and Literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. After the General Strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
of 1917 he was imprisoned in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, where he came into contact with the anarchist movement in the person of Tomás Herreros - and then, after release under amnesty in 1918, returned to Argentina, working as an activist for the anarcho-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
Federación Obrera Regional Argentina
Argentine Regional Workers' Federation
The Argentine Regional Workers' Federation , founded in 1901, was Argentina's first national labor confederation...
(FORA), and editing its weekly newspaper La Protesta.
Activism in Germany, Mexico and Argentina
In 1922 Santillán represented FORA at the formation of the anarcho-syndicalist International Workingmen’s AssociationInternational Workers Association
The International Workers' Association is an international federation of anarcho-syndicalist labour unions and initiatives based primarily in Europe and Latin America....
(IWMA) in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
; while there he began to study Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, and came to know Elise Kater, who was to become his wife. The first of many works on the history and theory of anarchism were published at this time – Ricardo Flores Magón
Ricardo Flores Magón
Cipriano Ricardo Flores Magón was a noted Mexican anarchist and social reform activist. His brothers Enrique and Jesús were also active in politics. Followers of the Magón brothers were known as Magonistas....
: Apostle of the Mexican Social Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
and Anarchism in the Labour Movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
both appeared in 1925.
In 1926 Santillán interrupted his studies to travel to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where he assisted the Confederación General de Trabajadores
General Confederation of Workers (Mexico)
The Confederación General de Trabajadores is a federation of labor unions in Mexico. It was founded in February 1921 by anarchists, syndicalists and others on the far left who opposed the more moderate, pro-government Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana...
(CGT). Returning to Argentina, he continued his work for La Protesta, as well as for a new journal, La Antorcha, and completed The Anarchist Movement in Argentina: From Its Beginnings to 1910 (1930). In the late 1920s Santillán was a fierce opponent of the anarchist Severino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni , was an Italian anarchist who immigrated to Argentina, where he became the best-known anarchist figure in that country for his campaign of violence in support of Sacco and Vanzetti and antifascism.- Italy :Di Giovanni was born on March 17, 1901, in the town of Chieti, in the...
, whose advocation of propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed is a concept that refers to specific political actions meant to be exemplary to others...
led to a number of deaths.
When, in 1930, he was condemned to death for sedition, Santillán escaped to Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. From there he travelled to Spain on the proclamation of the Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
in 1931, before returning to Argentina in secrecy to continue his militant activities and writing, including The Bankruptcy of the Capitalist Economic and Political System (1932), The Ideology of FORA and Trajectory of the Revolutionary Labour Movement in Argentina (1933) and Social Reconstruction: Foundations for a New Economic Structure in Argentina (1933). But by the end of 1933, he had returned once again to Spain, settling down in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
.
The Spanish Revolution
The following year, Santillán began work for the Federación Anarquista IbéricaFederación Anarquista Ibérica
The Federación Anarquista Ibérica is a Spanish organization of anarchist militants active within affinity groups inside the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo trade union. It is often abbreviated as CNT-FAI because of the close relationship between the two organizations...
(FAI), becoming, in 1935, secretary to its Peninsular Committee, and editor of Solidaridad Obrera
Solidaridad Obrera (periodical)
Solidaridad Obrera is a newspaper, published by the Catalonian/Balearic regional section of the anarchist labor union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo , and mouthpiece of the CNT in Spain....
and Tierra y Libertad; he also founded three new journals during this period: Tiempos Nuevos, Butlletí de la Conselleria d’Economia and Timón. After the Revolution
Spanish Revolution
The Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to...
in July 1936, he represented the FAI on the Comité de Milícies Antifeixistes de Catalunya, which co-ordinated the various militias in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
- and which formed, in the early years of the Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
the de facto government of Catalonia. Anarchist economic theory seems to have been foremost in his mind at this time, as shown by the appearance of The Economic Organism of the Revolution (1936), published in the name of the anarchist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo
The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo is a Spanish confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions affiliated with the International Workers Association . When working with the latter group it is also known as CNT-AIT...
(CNT); this was later to be reissued under the title After the Revolution: Economic Reconstruction in Spain Today (1937).
Between December 1936 and April 1937 he served as Minister of the Economy
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
(Conseller de Economía) for the Generalitat of Catalonia
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....
, while apparently maintaining anarchist principles of free participation
Direct democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
in politics. He was especially critical of the government and person of Juan Negrín
Juan Negrín
Juan Negrín y López was a Spanish politician and physician.-Early years:Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Negrín came from a religious middle-class family...
, and denounced the crimes of the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
-loyal PCE (the Spanish Communist Party) in the Civil War. Two more books appeared at this time: The Revolution and the War in Spain (1938) and a bibliography of Argentine anarchist writings (1938). In April 1938, Santillán joined the National Committee of the Antifascist Popular Front, which formed from the union of the anarchist CNT and the socialist UGT
Unión General de Trabajadores
The Unión General de Trabajadores is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party .-History:...
– but with the defeat of the Republic by Francoist forces in 1939, returned via France to Argentina.
Return to Argentina
From this point on, Santillán lived rather more obscurely, founding several more journals, and continuing his scholarly work, including extensive collaboration on the Gran Enciclopedia Argentina, and critical analyses of the labour movement and PeronismPeronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...
: Why We Lost the War: A Contribution to the History of the Spanish Tragedy (1940) – later made into a film by his son, Francisco Galindo – The Crisis of Capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and the Mission of the Proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
(1946), the section on Argentina in The Labour Movement: Anarchism and Socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
Vol. III (1965), Contributions to a History of the Spanish Labour Movement (1962-1971), From Alfonso XII
Alfonso XII of Spain
Alfonso XII was king of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885, after a coup d'état restored the monarchy and ended the ephemeral First Spanish Republic.-Early life and paternity:Alfonso was the son of Queen Isabella II of Spain, and...
to Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
: Notes on the Modern Political History of Spain (1974) and Strategy and Tactics: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1976).
Further unpublished works, Ideas y suggestiones para una nueva estrategía revolutionaria, (Ideas and Suggestions for a New Revolutionary Strategy) and Delincuencia política, (Political Criminality), along with the rest of his extensive archives, are held in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
at the International Institute of Social History
International Institute of Social History
The International Institute of Social History is a historical research institute in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1935 by Nicolaas Posthumus. The IISG is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences....
.
Final years
Santillán returned to post-Franco Spain in 1977, at the age of 80, settling once again in Barcelona, and producing a final memoir, Memorias 1897-1936 (1977). He died in Barcelona on October 18, 1983.Literature
Santillán's works include:- Ricardo Flores Magón: el apóstol de la revolución social mexicana, (Ricardo Flores Magón: Apostle of the Mexican Social Revolution), Mexico City: Grupo Cultural "Ricardo Flores Magon", 1925
- El anarquismo en el movimiento obrero, (Anarchism in the Labour Movement), (with Emilio López Arango), Barcelona: Ed. Cosmos, 1925
- El movimiento anarquista en la Argentina: desde sus comienzos hasta el año 1910, (The Anarchist Movement in Argentina: From Its Beginnings to 1910), Buenos Aires: Ed. Argonauta, 1930
- La bancarrota del sistema económico y político del capitalismo, (The Bankruptcy of the Capitalist Economic and Political System), 1932 La F.O.R.A.: ideología y trayectoria del movimiento obrero revolucionario en la Argentina, (The Ideology of FORA and Trajectory of the Revolutionary Labour Movement in Argentina), Buenos Aires: Nervio, 1933
- Reconstrucción social: bases para una nueva edificación económica argentina, (Social Reconstruction: Foundations for a New Economic Structure in Argentina), (with Juan Lazarte), 1933
- Las Cargas tributarias: apuntes sobre las finanzas estatales contemporáneas, (The Charges Paid: Points on Contemporary State Finances), Barcelona: Mundial, 1934
- Vida de Malatesta, (Life of Malatesta), Barcelona: Guilda de Amigos del Libro, 1936. Translation from the Italian of Luigi FabbriLuigi FabbriLuigi Fabbri , was an Italian anarchist, writer, agitator and propagandist who was charged with defeatism during the World War I. He was the father of Luce Fabbri....
's biography of Errico MalatestaErrico MalatestaErrico Malatesta was an Italian anarcho-communist. He was an insurrectionary anarchist early in his life. He spent much of his life exiled from his homeland of Italy and in total spent more than ten years in prison. He wrote and edited a number of radical newspapers and was also a friend of...
. - El organismo económico de la revolución, (The Economic Organism of the Revolution), Barcelona: CNT publication, 1936 - this was reissued the following year as:
- After the Revolution: Economic Reconstruction in Spain Today, New York: Greenberg, 1937
- A Return to Principle, Barcelona: Timón, No. 2, August 1938
- La revolución y la guerra de España, (The Revolution and the War in Spain), Havana, 1938
- Bibliografía anarquista argentina, Barcelona: Timón, 1938 Por qué perdimos la guerra: una contribución a la historia de la tragedia española, Buenos Aires: Imán, 1940
- Why We Lost the War: A Contribution to the History of the Spanish Tragedy (an excerpt from the above in English)
- La crisis del capitalismo y la misión del proletariado, (The Crisis of Capitalism and the Mission of the Proletariat), 1946
- Contribución a la historia del movimiento obrero español, (Contributions to a History of the Spanish Labour Movement), 3 vols., Puebla: Cajica, 1962-1971
- De Alfonso XII a Franco: apuntes de historia política de la España moderna, (From Alfonso XII to Franco: Notes on the Modern Political History of Spain), Buenos Aires: TEA, 1974
- Estrategia y táctica: ayer, hoy y mañana, (Strategy and Tactics: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow), Madrid: Ed. Jucar, 1976
- Memorias 1897-1936, Barcelona: Planeta, 1977
External links
- Page on Diego Abad de Santillán at the Daily Bleed’s Anarchist Encyclopedia
- Diego Abad de Santillán papers at the International Institute of Social HistoryInternational Institute of Social HistoryThe International Institute of Social History is a historical research institute in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1935 by Nicolaas Posthumus. The IISG is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences....
, Amsterdam