Dionisio Ridruejo
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Dionisio Ridruejo Jiménez (12 October 1912 – 29 June 1975) was a Spanish poet and political figure associated with the
Generation of '36 The Generation of '36 ( es, Generación del 36) is the name given to a group of Spanish artists, poets and playwrights who were working about the time of the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939). The Generation of '36 was a literary movement that suff ...
movement and a member of the
Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...
political party. He was co-author of the words to the Falangist anthem ''
Cara al Sol (English: Facing the Sun) is the anthem of the Falange Española de las JONS. The lyrics were written in December 1935 and are usually credited to the leader of the Falange, José Antonio Primo de Rivera. The music was composed by Juan Tellerí ...
''. In later years he fell from favour with the Francoist State and eventually became associated with opposition groups.


Falangism

Ridruejo was born in
Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma is the third-largest municipality in the province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It has a population of about 5,250. It is made up of two parts: *the smaller Ciudad de Osma (city ...
. A close friend of
Ramón Serrano Suñer Ramón Serrano Suñer (12 September 1901 – 1 September 2003), was a Spanish politician during the first stages of the Francoist dictatorship, between 1938 and 1942, when he held the posts of President of the FET y de las JONS caucus (1936) ...
, his tireless work as a propagandist, as well as his short stature and swarthy appearance, earned him the early nickname of the "Spanish Joseph Goebbels". Under Serrano Súñer's influence he was appointed as Minister of Propaganda to the cabinet of Francisco Franco in 1938. A strong Falangist and as a result sometimes in conflict with the military tendency within Francoism, he was censured 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, link ...
by General Álvarez-Arenas for producing propaganda leaflets in the
Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern ...
, with the military elite deciding that Spain's minority languages should be crushed rather than courted. Ridruejo's uneasiness with the
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
military elements of Franco's government was to prove his undoing. Thus his dismissal from the post of Propaganda Minister was secured in 1941 by his Cabinet colleague Colonel Valentín Galarza Morante after Ridruejo had published an article in ''Arriba'' condemning the hold that he felt the Colonel had over Franco. Galarza used his influence to ensure the dismissal of Ridruejo and he would not return to government thereafter. He was also damaged by the fact that he had been active in support of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
as other pro-Nazis such as
Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis (1905–1972) was a Spanish Falangist politician. He was an important figure in the early history of the movement but later fell out of favour. Falangism Dávila was a cousin of José Antonio Primo de Rivera ...
and Pedro Gamero del Castillo were dismissed at the same time. Ridruejo volunteered for the Spanish
Blue Division The Blue Division ( es, División Azul, german: Blaue Division) was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer ...
sent to fight as part of the German Army on the Eastern Front in Russia. He served from 1941 to 1942 before being invalided out.


Anti-Franco activity

In 1955 the disillusioned Ridruejo set up a semi-clandestine club bringing together 'authentic' Falangists with
communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
,
socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...
and democrats (such as
Enrique Múgica Enrique Múgica Herzog (20 February 1932 – 11 April 2020) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. An opponent of Francoist Spain, he spent three years in prison. He was one of the leaders of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), in Franco's time. ...
, Fernando Sánchez Dragó, Ramón Tamames, José María Ruiz Gallardón, and others) in a loose alliance united only by opposition to
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
.de Blaye, p. 189 His opposition activity saw him jailed briefly the following year and again in 1957 when he told the
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n radical journal ''Bohemia'' that he was active in the illegal opposition. By this point he had become involved with the ''Partido Social de Acción Democrática'', an illegal opposition group that supported democratisation and a liberal cultural outlook, as well as left-wing economic ideas.Esther Nelson, "Ridruejo, Dionisio", in Germán Bleiberg, Maureen Ihrie, Janet Pérez (eds.), ''Dictionary of the Literature of the Iberian Peninsula'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1993, p. 1375 By the early 1960s Ridruejo's opposition activity saw him living in exile in South America. He published his autobiography, ''Escrito en España'' in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in 1962 with the book also detailing his conversion from Falangism to
social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
which had occurred around this time. He returned to Spain late in life and died in Madrid in 1975.


Poetry

Ridruejo was a devotee of classical Spanish literature, as well as
Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...
and
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
and he produced poetry in a number of forms, ranging from Garcilaso de la Vega-styled sonnets to
blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and Pa ...
. In the 1940s he was particularly noted for the religious tone of much of his poetry, often giving praise to God for His mercy.G.G. Brown, ''A Literary History of Spain - The Twentieth Century'', Ernest Benn, 1974, p. 153 His later works are marked by a growing theme of
existential angst Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
, inspired by his disillusionment with Franco and his increasingly impoverished circumstances due to his fall from grace.


See also

* Café Gijón (Madrid)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridruejo, Dionisio 1912 births 1975 deaths People from the Province of Soria Spanish Falangists Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Spanish fascists Spanish autobiographers 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Spanish male writers