Sinesio Baudillo García Fernández (20 May 1897 – 18 October 1983), commonly known by his pseudonym Diego Abad de Santillán, was a

Spanish Argentine Spanish Argentines () are Argentine-born citizens who are predominantly or totally of Spanish descent. The arrival of Spanish emigrants in Argentina took place first in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in large ...

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. Born in León, his family moved to Argentina while he was young. He returned to Spain for his higher education and became involved in the Spanish anarchist movement. After his studies, he went back to Argentina and became involved with the

Argentine Regional Workers' Federation The Argentine Regional Workers' Federation (Spanish: ''Federación Obrera Regional Argentina''; abbreviated FORA), founded in , was Argentina's first national trade unions in Argentina, labor confederation. It split into two wings in 1915, the la ...

(FORA), co-founding the International Workers' Association (IWA). Following the

1930 Argentine coup d'état Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this y ...

and the establishment of the

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

, he again went to Spain, becoming involved in the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, he served in the Catalan government as Minister of Economy. After the war, he returned to Argentina and largely ceased political activities, going back to Spain only after the

Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

Biography

In 1897, Santillán was born Sinesio Baudillo García Fernández in Reyero, a small, isolated town in the region of León. His father was from a Leonese family of

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s and his mother was from an Andalucian family of

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

s. In 1905, the family moved to Argentina, settling in Santa Fe. After working a number of jobs, in 1913, the young Sinesio returned to León and earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

at a local university. After some travels around

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and the Basque Country, in 1915, he enrolled at the University of Madrid, where he studied the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

, graduating as a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

. In the Spanish capital, he began to live a bohemian lifestyle, taking the pseudonym Diego Abad de Santillán while writing for dissident journals. Santillán participated in the 1917 Spanish general strike, for which he was imprisoned for a year. After receiving an

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

, he returned to Argentina, briefly reuniting with his family in Santa Fe before moving to the capital

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. There he joined the

(FORA), working as editor of its newspaper '. In 1922, he went to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and participated in the establishment of the International Workers' Association (IWA), staying behind in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in order to study medicine. There he met a number of famous anarchists, including Max Nettlau, for whom he helped translate his works into Spanish. In 1925, he briefly went to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and helped organise the General Confederation of Workers (CGT) before returning to Argentina, where he took part in the Sacco & Vanzetti defense campaign and wrote a history of anarchism in Argentina. In the wake of the

, he was sentenced to death for sedition, but managed to escape into exile in the newly-established Spanish Republic. In Spain, Santillán joined the

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The (CNT; ) is a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist national trade union center, trade union confederation. Founded in 1910 in Barcelona from groups brought together by the trade union ''Solidaridad Obrera (historical union), Solidaridad Obrera'', ...

(CNT) and became secretary of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), for which he edited their respective newspapers '' Solidaridad Obrera'' and '' Tierra y Libertad''. Following the outbreak of the

, he joined the Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia and was appointed Minister of Economy in the Catalan government. In the wake of the

May Days The May Days (, ), sometimes also called May Events (, ), were a series of clashes between 3 and 8 May 1937 during which factions on the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republican side of the Spanish Civil War engaged one another in str ...

, he took a critical line against the government of

Juan Negrín Juan Negrín López (; 3 February 1892 – 12 November 1956) was a Spanish physician and politician who served as prime minister of the Second Spanish Republic. He was a leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (, PSOE) and of the le ...

and the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

(PCE), publishing ''After the Revolution'', which outlined a program for

workers' self-management Workers' self-management, also referred to as labor management and organizational self-management, is a form of organizational management based on self-directed work processes on the part of an organization's workforce. Self-managed economy, ...

under

anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...

. In the program, Santillán invoked British utilitarian philosopher

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

in his attacks against

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, declaring: When the Republic was defeated, Santillán fled into exile in France, before finally returning to Argentina. There he continued his historical work and contributed to dictionaries and encyclopedias, notably writing ''Why We Lost the War'', which his son Luis later adapted into film. He largely ceased political activities and gravitated increasingly towards reformism, defending anarchist collaboration with the Republican government during the war, while also coming to prioritise the abolition of the state over the abolition of capitalism. During the

, Santillán finally returned to Spain, settling in Barcelona, where he died in 1983.

Selected works

*
After the Revolution: Economic Reconstruction in Spain
' (1937) *
Why We Lost the War: A Contribution to the History of the Spanish Tragedy
' (1940)

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Diego Abad de Santillán papers
at the

International Institute of Social History International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Diego Abad de Santillán Archive
at The Anarchist Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abad De Santillan, Diego 1897 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Spanish non-fiction writers 20th-century Spanish economists Argentine anarchists Argentine anti-fascists Argentine economists Argentine non-fiction writers Argentine people of the Spanish Civil War Argentine revolutionaries Argentine trade unionists Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Economy ministers of Catalonia Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Argentina Historians of the Spanish Civil War Spanish anti-capitalists Spanish emigrants to Argentina Spanish non-fiction writers Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) People from Montaña de Riaño Deaths in Barcelona

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links