Cipriano Mera Sanz (November 4, 1897 – October 24, 1975) was a Spanish military and political figure during 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 ...

Early life

He had two sons (Floreal and Sergio) with his partner Teresa Gómez. A bricklayer, he joined the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

movement and presided over the construction union of Madrid of the

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo ( en, National Confederation of Labor; CNT) is a Spanish confederation of anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionar ...

(CNT). During the congress celebrated in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

three months before the beginning of the Spanish Revolution, he was in favor of the most radical, collaborating sectors of the

Federación Anarquista Ibérica The Iberian Anarchist Federation ( es, Federación Anarquista Ibérica, FAI) is a Spanish organization of anarchist militants active within affinity groups in the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) anarcho-syndicalist union. It is often ...

(FAI). Mera led a strike of construction workers, electricians, and elevator operators in

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 ...

in June 1936. As a result, he was imprisoned in early July.

Spanish Civil War

When 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, link ...

exploded he was released, and led a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

that put down the uprising in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Alcalá de Henares and Cuenca. Next, he defended the dams of Lozoya, which supplied Madrid, and fought in the mountain ranges of

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...

and the valley of the

Tiétar river Tiétar may refer to: * Tiétar River, a river of Spain. * Tiétar, Cáceres, a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. * Tejeda de Tiétar, a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. * Sant ...

. He was given command of the 14th Division and it acted in the defense of Madrid, the

Battle of Guadalajara The Battle of Guadalajara (March 8–23, 1937) saw the victory of the People's Republican Army (''Ejército Popular Republicano'', or EPR) and of the International Brigades over the Italian and Nationalist forces attempting to encircle Madrid d ...

(March 1937) and in the

battle of Brunete The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the R ...

(July 1937). He replaced Juan Perea Capulino in command of the IV Army Corps of the center. In April 1938 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

The end of the war

By 1939 Mera was convinced that the Republicans would be defeated. When

Juan Negrín Juan Negrín López (; 3 February 1892 – 12 November 1956) was a Spanish politician and physician. He was a leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE) and served as finance minister and ...

refused to surrender to

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

, Mera decided to support

Segismundo Casado Segismundo Casado López (10 October 1893 – 18 December 1968) was a Spanish Army officer; he served during the late Restoration, the Primo de Rivera dictatorship and the Second Spanish Republic. Following outbreak of the Spanish Civil W ...

, commander of the Republican Army of the center, and

Julián Besteiro Julián Besteiro Fernández (21 September 1870 – 27 September 1940) was a Spanish socialist politician, elected to the Cortes Generales and in 1931 as Speaker of the Constituent Cortes of the Spanish Republic. He also was elected several times ...

of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...

to stage a '' coup d'etat'' and establish an anti-Negrin, anti-Stalinist National Defence Council (''Consejo Nacional de Defensa''). In March 1939 he joined the rising of Casado to accelerate the end of the war and to restrain

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 a ...

control of the Republican zone. His forces were fundamental in the victory of Casado in Madrid against the 1st Corps of the Army of the Center sent to defeat the rising.

Exile and death

He marched to

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

at the end of the war and soon by plane went to

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

and

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

, but he was extradited to Spain in February 1942. In 1943 he was condemned to death, a sentence that was exchanged for 30 years in prison, but he was set free in 1946. In 1947, he emigrated to Paris, where he worked as a bricklayer until his death in St. Cloud, France in 1975.

Films

He appeared as himself in the 1936 CNT film production "''Castilla Libertaria''". In 2009, a documentary entitled "''Vivir de Pie. Las Guerras de Cipriano Mera''" (Living on Your Feet: The Struggles of Cipriano Mera) was released.Vivir de pie. Las guerras de Cipriano Mera

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References

Sources

* * *Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge.'' Harper Perennial. London, 2006.

External links

Cipriano Mera Page
from the Anarchist Encyclopedia
Cipriano Mera: Portrait of a Battler by Julián Vadillo Muñoz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mera, Cipriano 1897 births 1975 deaths People from Madrid Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Spanish anarchists Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish army officers Bricklayers Spanish emigrants to France Spanish prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Spain People extradited to Spain People extradited from France