Antonio Ortega Gutiérrez (17 January 1888 – 15 July 1939) was a Spanish

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

military officer and acting president of Madrid Football Club between 1937 and 1938 during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

; directly involved in the defense of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spanish Civil War

A professional officer of the Spanish Army, he supported the

government during the

. Before the war he was a lieutenant of ''

Carabineros The was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against fraud and smuggling. A ...

'' of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

stationed in

Irun Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as ...

. On 6 August 1936, following the Coup, he was appointed civil governor of

Guipuzcoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

. He took command of the

forces during the later part of the

Campaign of Guipúzcoa The campaign of Gipuzkoa was part of the Spanish Civil War, where the Nationalist Army conquered the northern province of Gipuzkoa, held by the Republic. Background In late July Mola´s troops suffered a shortage of ammunition (having only 26,00 ...

after the capture of

Augusto Pérez Garmendia Augusto Perez Garmendia (1899 in Donosti – 1936 in Pamplona), was a Spanish military man. He was Chief of the Spanish Republican Army General Staff in San Sebastián at the time of the coup d'état of 1936 that gave rise to the Spanish Civ ...

Oiartzun es, oyarsonense , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1937 he was appointed secretary of security and joined the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...

. He was also, among other things, responsible for the arrest of

Andreu Nin Andreu Nin Pérez (4 February 1892 – 20 June 1937) was a Spanish communist politician, translator and publicist. In 1937, Nin and the rest of the POUM leadership were arrested by the Moscow-oriented government of the Second Spanish Republic ...

and because of this, was dismissed by the minister of the interior, Julian Zugazagoitia; eventually being transferred to field command. In March 1939, he was the commander in charge of the III

Army Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of the Army of the Centre and supported

Luis Barceló Luis Barceló Jover (1896 – 15 March 1939) was a Spanish military officer. Spanish Civil War A professional officer of the Spanish Army, he supported the Second Spanish Republic, Republican government during the Spanish Civil War. In 1936 ...

against the National Defence Council ''(Consejo Nacional de Defensa)'' during what later became the ''

Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War The final offensive of the Spanish Civil War took place between 26 March and 1 April 1939, towards the end of the Spanish Civil War. On 5 March 1939, the Republican Army, led by Colonel Segismundo Casado and the politician Julián Besteiro, ro ...

''. At the end of the war, he was captured by the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

, sentenced to death by a military tribunal and subsequently executed by firing squad in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 15 July 1939.

President of Real Madrid

As President of Madrid Football Club, as Real Madrid were called during the

, he acted on behalf of

Rafael Sánchez Guerra Rafael Sánchez Guerra (28 October 1897 – 2 April 1964) was a Spanish lawyer, journalist and politician who was the 8th president of Real Madrid from 31 May 1935 until 4 August 1936. His presidency at Real Madrid coincided with the Spanish ...

, a prominent

, who was unable to take an active role in managing the club due to the war. Ortega took over as acting president from another Republican,

Juan Jose Vallejo ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

. Together with Gonzalo Aguirre and Valero Rivera, Madrid Vice President and Treasurer, respectively, he was among several Real Madrid board members, captured and executed by Franco's Nationalists, following the city of Madrid's fall.Kassimeris, Christos. (2007). European Football in Black and White: Tackling Racism in Football. Lexington Books. p.22

References

Sources

* Romero, Eladi, Itinerarios de la Guerra Civil española : guía del viajero curioso, Barcelona : Laertes, 2001, 600 p. * Barruso, Pedro, Verano y revolución. La guerra civil en Gipuzkoa' (julio-septiembre de 1936), Edita: Haramburu Editor. San Sebastián, 1996. *Pedro Barruso, GIPUZKOA 1936: VERANO Y REVOLUCIÓN, LA GUERRA CIVIL EN GIPUZKOA (Spanish) *
Pedro Barruso, GIPUZKOA 1936: VERANO Y REVOLUCIÓN, LA GUERRA CIVIL EN GIPUZKOA (Spanish)
* *''Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football'' (2003), Phil Ball

*''List of missing persons https://web.archive.org/web/20141219110248/http://www.jusap.ejgv.euskadi.net/r47-contmh2/es/contenidos/informacion/listado_personas_desaparecidas/es_memoria/o_listado_personas_desaparecidas.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortega Gutierrez, Antonio 1888 births 1939 deaths Communist Party of Spain politicians Real Madrid CF presidents Spanish army officers Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Executed Spanish people People executed by Spain by firing squad