Lluís Companys
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| Lluís Companys | |
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 123rd President of the Generalitat de Catalunya [1] |
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| In office December 25, 1933 – October 15, 1940 (Acting until January 1, 1934 In exile from January 23, 1939 to October 15, 1940) |
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| Preceded by | Francesc Macià |
| Succeeded by | Josep Irla |
| 4th Acting President of the Catalan Republic | |
| In office October 6, 1934 – October 7, 1934 |
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| Preceded by | Francesc Macià In 1931 |
| Succeeded by | Himself, as President of the Generalitat de Catalunya |
| 1st President of the Parliament of Catalonia | |
| In office December 14, 1932 – June 20, 1933 |
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| Preceded by | New title |
| Succeeded by | Joan Casanovas i Maristany |
| Minister of the Marine of Spain | |
| In office June 20, 1933 – September 12, 1933 |
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| Preceded by | José Giral |
| Succeeded by | Vicente Iranzo Enguita |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 21, 1882 El Tarròs, Urgell |
| Died | October 15, 1940 (aged 58) Montjuïc, Barcelona |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Political party | ERC |
| Spouse(s) | Mercè Micó (div.) Carme Ballester |
| Children | Lluís (1911–1956) |
Lluís Companys i Jover (Catalan pronunciation: [ʎuˈis kumˈpaɲs]) (June 21, 1882 – October 15, 1940) was the 123rd President of Catalonia, from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War.
He was a lawyer and leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) political party. Exiled after the war, he was captured and handed over by the Nazi secret police, the Gestapo, to the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who had him executed by firing squad in 1940. Companys is the only incumbent democratically elected president in European history to have been executed,[2][3] and seventy-two years later the council of war which sentenced him is still in force.[4]
Contents
Early life[edit]
Born June 21, 1882 at Tarròs in a peasant family with aristocratic roots, was the second brother of ten. His parents were Josep Companys and Maria Lluïsa de Jover.[5]After getting his law degree from the Universitat de Barcelona, Companys participated in the political life of Catalonia from a young age. In 1906, as a result of the military burning the writings of Catalan newspapers Cu-Cut! and La Veu de Catalunya, and after the passing of the Ley de Jurisdicciones ("Law of Jurisdictions"), which made speech against Spain and its symbols a criminal offence, he participated in the creation of Solidaritat Catalana.
Later, he became affiliated to the ephemeral Unió Federal Nacionalista Republicana, of which he was president of the youth section. He was investigated for his intense youth activities and was jailed fifteen times, being classified after the Tragic Week of Barcelona as a "dangerous individual" in police records.
With Francesc Layret, Companys represented the left-wing labor faction of the Partit Republicà Català (Catalan Republican Party), for which he was elected councillor of Barcelona in 1916. In November 1920, he was detained together with Salvador Seguí (known as El Noi del Sucre), Martí Barrera, Josep Viadiu, and other trade unionists and was deported to the Castell de la Mola in Mahón, on Menorca. Shortly afterward, Layret was assassinated while preparing his defence.
Despite his deportation, in the 1920 legislative elections, Companys was elected deputy of Sabadell, taking the place of Layret, who was to have taken that seat prior to his assassination. This gave him parliamentary immunity, which secured his release from prison.
Companys was one of the founders of Unió de Rabassaires in 1922, for which he worked as a lawyer and director of the magazine La Terra during the years of the regime of Primo de Rivera.
Detained again, he was unable to attend the Conferencia de Izquierdas (Conference of Leftists) held between March 12 and March 19, 1931, from which was born the ERC political party; however, he was elected as an executive member of that party, representing the Partit Republicà Català. Thanks to the bonds between the Spanish labor movement and the Spanish union movement, the election of Companys to this position gave the ERC great prestige amongst left-wing public opinion, whereas before, it had been considered a party of the small progressive bourgeoisie.
Proclamation of the Catalan State[edit]
On October 6, 1934, Companys led a Catalan Nationalist uprising against the center and right-wing republican government, and proclaimed the Catalan State (Estat Català),[6] an action for which he was arrested and sentenced to thirty years in prison.[7] However, after the 1936 election and the victory of the left-wing coalition Frente Popular, he was set free by the new government.
Civil War[edit]
When the Spanish Civil War began shortly after, in July 1936, Companys sided with the Second Spanish Republic against the Nacionales rebels and was instrumental in organizing a collaboration between the Central Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias, which was sponsored by his Catalan government, and the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), a revolutionary anti-Stalinist communist party, and Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), an anarchist syndicalist trade union.[8]
During the war, Companys attempted to maintain the unity of his political coalition, but after the Soviet Union's consul, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, threatened that his country would cut off aid to Catalonia, he sacked Andrés Nin from his post as minister of Justice in December 1936.
Exile and execution[edit]
Exiled to France in 1939 after the Civil War, Companys had passed up various chances to leave France because his son Lluis was seriously ill in a clinic in Paris.[9] He was arrested in La Baule-les-Pins near Nantes on 13 August 1940, and detained in La Santé Prison. He was then extradited by Nazi German authorities to the Spanish government in Madrid in early September 1940 and imprisoned in the cellars of the headquarters of the Dirección General de Seguridad (State Security) at the Real Casa de Correos in Puerta del Sol. He was held there for five weeks, kept in solitary confinement, tortured and beaten, while senior figures of the Franco regime visited his cell, insulted him and threw coins or crusts of bread at him.[9][10] After a military trial which lasted less than one hour, lacking legal guarantees[citation needed] where he was accused of 'military rebellion', Companys was executed at Montjuïc Castle[11] in Barcelona at 6:30 a.m. on October 15, 1940. Refusing to wear a blindfold, he was taken before a firing squad of Civil Guards and, as they fired, he cried 'Per Catalunya!' (For Catalonia!).[12] He is buried at the Montjuïc Cemetery, near the castle. The cause of death was given as 'traumatic internal haemorrhage'.[13]
The main stadium used for the 1992 Summer Olympics, located on Montjuïc, is officially named in his memory. In 1998 a monument to Companys was installed near Arc de Triomf, on Passeig de Lluís Companys in Barcelona. A friend of Companys, Conxita Julià, is portrayed next to Companys' image in the monument.
See also[edit]
- List of people executed by Francoist Spain
- Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War
- Red Terror (Spain)
- White Terror (Spain)
References[edit]
- ^ Generalitat de Catalunya. "Presidències i presidents de la Generalitat de Catalunya". Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ^ (Catalan) "La befa al president Companys continua" Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ^ Eaude, Michael (Dec 6, 2007). Catalonia: A Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780199886883. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ^ Europa Press (15 October 2010). "Artur Mas reclama anular el juicio de Companys para su completa restitución". La Vanguardia. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ^ Finestres, Jordi (October 2012). Lluís Companys. El president màrtir (in Catalan) (121). Barcelona: Sàpiens. pp. 46–49.
- ^ Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge. Harper Perennial. London. 2006. p.78
- ^ Beevor, Antony. The battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. Penguin Books. 2006. London. p.30
- ^ Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge. Harper Perennial. London. 2006. pp.253–254
- ^ a b Preston, Paul. (2012). The Spanish Holocaust. Harper Press. London p. 493
- ^ Juliá, Santos; Casanova, Julián; Solé i Sabaté, Josep Maria; Villarroya; Moreno, Francisco. Victimas de la guerra civil. Ediciones Temas de Hoy. 1999. Madrid. p. 331
- ^ Gary McDonogh, Gary (2009) Iberian Worlds. Taylor & Francis At Google Books. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
- ^ Burns, Jimmy (2000). Barca: a people's passion. Bloomsbury. p. 126.
- ^ Preston, Paul. (2012). The Spanish Holocaust. Harper Press. London p.493
External links[edit]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Francesc Macià |
President of the Generalitat de Catalunya Acting until January 1, 1934 in exile from January 23, 1939 to October 15, 1940 1933–1940 |
Succeeded by Josep Irla In exile |
| Preceded by New title |
President of the Parliament of Catalonia 1932–1933 |
Succeeded by Joan Casanovas i Maristany |
| Preceded by Francesc Macià, in 1931 |
Acting President of the Catalan Republic 1934 |
Succeeded by Himself, as President of the Generalitat de Catalunya |
| Preceded by José Giral |
Minister of Marine of Spain 1933 |
Succeeded by Vicente Iranzo Enguita |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Francesc Macià |
President of ERC 1933–1934 |
Succeeded by Carles Pi i Sunyer |
| Preceded by Carles Pi i Sunyer |
President of ERC 1936–1940 |
Succeeded by Vacant, next in 1993, Heribert Barrera i Costa |
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- 1882 births
- 1940 deaths
- People from Urgell
- Presidents of the Republican Left of Catalonia
- Presidents of Generalitat de Catalunya
- Presidents of the Parliament of Catalonia
- Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)
- People executed by Francoist Spain
- Spanish people executed by firing squad
- Executed politicians
- Executed presidents
- People executed by Spain by firing squad
- Burials at Montjuïc Cemetery
- Leaders of political parties in Spain
- Assassinated Spanish politicians
