Joan Peiró

Joan Peiró i Belis (sometimes Juan Peiró) was a Catalan anarchist activist, writer, editor of the anarchist newspaper Solidaridad Obrera, two-time Secretary General of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labor, CNT) and Minister of Industry of the Spanish government during the Spanish Civil War.

Life

Though he was born in the Sants neighborhood of Barcelona, Peiró spent a large portion of his life in Mataró, just outside of Barcelona, where he worked as a glass worker all his life.

Contrary to most anarchist's principles, in 1930, during the reign of Alfonso XIII of Spain, Peiró signed the "Manifesto of the Catalan Intelligentsia", which called for the establishment of a republic. A short time later, Peiró was stripped of his position of speaking for the CNT at a rally in Barcelona, but Peiró announced that he had removed his signature from the manifesto, and held his faith in anarcho-syndicalism. Later, in 1931, Peiró signed Ángel Pestaña's Manifiesto de los Treinta ("Manifesto of the Thirty"), which was critical of the more radical Federación Anarquista Ibérica influence on the CNT, which would have him temporarily removed from the CNT.

On November 4, 1936, Peiró, and three other members of the CNT leadership, were appointed to ministerial positions in the Spanish government by Largo Caballero. In 1937, he drafted a piece of legislation that would have collectivized all of Spain's industries, but after several redrafts, the final legislation provided virtually nothing of the original intent. Peiró was removed from his position in May 17, 1937, but returned to the government under Juan Negrín as Commissioner of Electricity.

Following the fall of the republic in 1939, Peiró fled to France, where he was turned over to Nazi Germany by the Vichy Regime in France, and was executed, after being turned over to the Franco government in Spain.

Legacy

In Barcelona, a plaza adjacent to the main transportation terminal was named for Peiró.

In 2002, on the 60th anniversary of Peiró's death, a group in Mataró organized a celebration in honor Peiró. The celebration took place at the cemetery in Mataró where Peiró's body lies, and was attended by his daughter Guillermina Peiró, the secretary of communication of the Confederación General de Trabajadores (General Confederation of Labor, CGT), Jordí Martí, as well as the Mayor of Mataró, Manuel Mas. A red and black flag was laid on Peiró's tomb, while the anthem of the CNT, To the Barricades was sung.

Peiró's son Josep, like his father, went on to be a leader of the CNT in exile, after having fought in the Civil War as part of the Ascaso Column.

Written works

• Trayectoria de la Confederación Nacional del Trabajo.
• Ideas sobre Sindicalismo y Anarquismo.
• Perill a la reraguarda.
• Problemas y cintarazos.
• Problemas del sindicalismo y del Anarquismo.

Sources

• Beevor, Antony (2006). The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297-848325.
• Bolloten, Burnett (1991). The Spanish Civil War: Revolution and Counterrevolution, UNC Press, ISBN 0807819069.
• Casanova, Julián (2005). Anarchism, the Republic and Civil War in Spain: 1931-1939 , Routledge, ISBN 041532095X.
• Christie, Stuart (2000). We, the Anarchists!: A Study of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), 1927-37, Christie Books, ISBN 1901172058.
• Paz, Abel (2007). Durruti in the Spanish Revolution, Oakland, AK Press, ISBN 190485950X.
• Radosh, Ronald; Habeck, Mary R. (2001). Spain Betrayed: The Soviet Union in the Spanish Civil War , Yale University Press, ISBN 0300089813.

External links

• Video Joan Peiró, La justicia de Franco

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