Fernando Claudín Pontes (24 August 1913 – 16 May 1990) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

communist ideologist and historian best known for his two volume study ''The Communist Movement: From Comintern to Cominform''.

Life

Fernando Claudín Pontes was born in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, Aragon, on 21 August 1915. Later he moved to Madrid, where he enrolled in the ''Escuela Superior de Arquitectura''. In 1932 he became a member of the Communist Youth (''Juventudes Comunistas''). In 1936 he was elected to the leadership of the

Unified Socialist Youth The Unified Socialist Youth (Spanish: Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas; JSU) was a youth organization formed in the spring of 1936 in Spain through the amalgamation of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Communist Party of Spain (PC ...

(''Juventudes Socialistas Unificados'', JSU) as director of its journal ''Ahora''. 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 ...

(1936–39) he was appointed head of the Press Cabinet under

Santiago Carrillo Santiago José Carrillo Solares (18 January 1915 – 18 September 2012) was a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (main), Communist Party of Spain (PCE) from 1960 to 1982. He was exiled during ...

, Councillor of Public Security in the Madrid Defense Council. Other key posts in this department were held by Luis Rodríguez Cuesta (secretary of the Council),

Federico Melchor Federico Melchor Fernández (10 April 1915 – 11 September 1985) was a Spanish journalist and communist politician. He was one of the leaders of the Communist Youth Union of Spain. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) he was general director ...

(Security, Assault and the National Guard),

Segundo Serrano Poncela Segundo Serrano Poncela (1912 – 9 December 1976) was a Spanish Republican politician, writer, literary critic, and essayist associated with the Generation of '36 movement. He was a contributor to ''Claridad'', the periodical of Francisco Largo ...

(DGS), and Alfredo Cabello (Emisión Radiofónica). After the Republicans were defeated by the forces led by General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

in 1939, Claudín began a long exile in Moscow, France, Mexico, Cuba, Chile and Argentina. From 1943 to 1945 Claudín worked in 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 ...

(''Partido Comunista de España'', PCE) headquarters in Argentina. In 1945 he moved to France. From 1947 to December 1954 he represented the Spanish communists in Moscow. In 1955 he returned to Paris as a member of the PCE executive committee. Following the

20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union () was held during the period 14–25 February 1956. It is known especially for First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's " Secret Speech", which denounced the personality cult and dictator ...

in 1956 Claudin found himself increasingly at odds with an official party line which overwhelmingly supported

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

policies regardless of the actions of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

itself. He was expelled from the PCE in 1965 for his open disagreement with official policy. In June 1975 he returned secretly to Spain and worked at the ''Editorial Siglo XXI'' until 1980, when he was named a director of the ''Fundación Pablo Iglesias''. He joined the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(''Partido Socialista Obrero Español '', PSOE) and was named president of the Foundation in 1988. He died in Madrid on 16 May 1990.

Publications

Among other works, Claudín wrote a critical Marxist history of the Soviet-aligned Communist movement ''La crisis del movimiento comunista. De la Komintern al Kominform (1970)'', which was translated into English and published as ''The Communist Movement: From Comintern To Cominform'' in 1975.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

''The Communist Movement: From Comintern to Cominform''
Spanish communists 1915 births 1990 deaths {{Spain-politician-stub