Gustavo Durán Martínez (1906–1969) was a Spanish composer,Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution & Revenge.'' Harper Perennial. London. 2006. p.112 Lieutenant Colonel in the Spanish military, diplomat and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

official.

Early life

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain in 1906, he moved with his family to Madrid at the age of four, and studied music. During his piano studies he befriended

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

Buñuel Buñuel is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto ...

Rafael Alberti Rafael Alberti Merello (16 December 1902 – 28 October 1999) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. He is considered one of the greatest literary figures of the so-called ''Silver Age'' of Spanish Literature, and he won numerou ...

(some of whose poems he set to music) and other ''

Residencia de Estudiantes The Residencia de Estudiantes, literally the "Student Residence", is a centre of Spanish cultural life in Madrid. The Residence was founded to provide accommodation for students along the lines of classic colleges at Bologna, Salamanca, Cambridge ...

'' guests.Gustavo Durán: memoria de un español polifacético
Jorge de Persia, Centro de Documentación,

. In 1927 he composed a ballet, ''Fandango del Candil'', for Spanish dancer

Antonia Mercé Antonia Mercé y Luque (September 4, 1890 – July 18, 1936), largely known by her stage name, La Argentina, was an Argentine-born Spanish dancer known for her creation of the neoclassical style of Spanish dance. Considered one of the most f ...

, ''La Argentina'', and accompanied her on a European tour. In 1929 he moved to Paris where he studied under

Paul Le Flem Marie-Paul Achille Auguste Le Flem (18 March 1881 – 31 July 1984) was a French composer and music critic. Biography Born in Radon, Orne, and living most of his life in Lézardrieux, Le Flem studied at the Schola Cantorum under Vincent d'Ind ...

of the Schola Cantorum and served, until 1934, as manager and secretary to the Spanish painter Néstor. In 1933 he became an employee of the Spanish section of Paramount Pictures, and continued in that role, after returning to Madrid, at Fono-Espana, Inc., where he dubbed and scored films for the Latin American market. Before the war, he was a leading figure in the ''Motorizada'', the motorized section of the socialist youth movement associated with Prieto.Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2001. p. 477

Spanish civil war

He served in the Army of the Spanish Republic from July 18, 1936, until the end of war. In 1936 he was the chief of staff of Kleber. Later, he joined the PCE. After that, he was the republican commander of one Mixed Brigade in the

Second Battle of the Corunna Road The Second Battle of the Corunna Road ( es, Batalla de la Carretera de Coruña) was a battle of the Spanish Civil War that took place from 13 December 1936 to 15 January 1937, northwest of Madrid. In December 1936, the Nationalists launched an ...

in November 1936 and in the

Segovia Offensive The Segovia Offensive was a Republican diversionary offensive which took place between 31 May and 6 June 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The main goal of the offensive was to occupy Segovia and divert Nationalist forces from their advance on ...

and 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 Rep ...

he led the 69th division. He covered the retreat of the republican forces in the

Maestrazgo The Maestrazgo () or Maestrat () is a natural and historical mountainous region, located at the eastern end of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range, in Spain. It encompasses the north of the Autonomous Community of Valencia, in Castellón provinc ...

during the

Aragon Offensive The Aragon Offensive was an important military campaign during the Spanish Civil War, which began after the Battle of Teruel. The offensive, which ran from March 7, 1938, to April 19, 1938, smashed the Republican forces, overran Aragon, and conq ...

and was one of the Republican commanders in the defense of the

XYZ Line The XYZ Line, or Matallana Line, was a system of fortifications built during the Spanish Civil War in order to defend the capital of the Second Spanish Republic in Valencia, Spain. Unlike the Maginot Line, or the Iron Belt (''"Cinturón de Hi ...

in 1938. He also served briefly in '' SIM'', the (''Servicio de Investigación Militar''), as chief of the department for the Army of the centre. In March 1939, when Franco's troops had reached Valencia, Durán escaped from

Gandia Gandia ( es, Gandía) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar (or ''Costa dels Tarongers''), south of Valencia and north of Alicante. Vehicles can acce ...

, Spain, aboard a British destroyer, landing at

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and, eventually,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Exile

In May 1940, Durán emigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he was employed by the

Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, later known as the Office for Inter-American Affairs, was a United States agency promoting inter-American cooperation (Pan-Americanism) during the 1940s, especially in commercial and econ ...

to work at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

. From there he moved to the Music Division of the

Pan American Union The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

, Washington. In 1942, he was granted

US citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

and was transferred to the Havana embassy on the recommendation of his old friend

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

, who had made him a character in his novel ''For Whom The Bell Tolls''. In May 1945, he went to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, where he served as assistant to the Ambassador,

Spruille Braden Spruille Braden ( ; March 13, 1894 – January 10, 1978) was an American diplomat, businessman, lobbyist, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as the ambassador to various Latin American countries, and as Assistant Secretary ...

. He was investigated by FBI due to his supposed engagement in the so-called

Usera Tunnel scam Usera Tunnel ( es, Túnel de Usera, also es, Túnel de la muerte) was a scam operated by Republican security units during the Spanish Civil War. It took place in Madrid between mid-October and mid-November 1937. Its objectives were twofold; one wa ...

, but no link has been established.

UN officer

In October, 1946, after rising to the position of special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State, he resigned from the State Department and entered the

, where he served as an officer in the Social Department of the Refugee Division. He was accused that year by a U.S. Representative,

J. Parnell Thomas John Parnell Thomas (January 16, 1895 – November 19, 1970) was a stockbroker and politician. He was elected to seven terms as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New Jersey as a Republican Party (United States), Re ...

, of being an agent of the Russian police and a member of the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

. In 1951, Senator

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

, drawing on a report written for the Spanish Falangist journal ''Arriba'' (Madrid), denounced him as a

communist 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 ...

and member of the Communist-dominated military intelligence, '' SIM''. As a UN officer, he helped start

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

CEPAL The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, known as ECLAC, UNECLAC or in Spanish and Portuguese CEPAL, is a United Nations regional commission to encourage economic cooperation. ECLAC includes 46 member States (2 ...

and was sent to Congo in 1960. He died in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in 1969 and he was buried in Alones of

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ( ...

in Crete.

Family

Durán married Bontë Romilly Crompton, in Totnes, Devon on 4 Dec 1939. Bontë (15 May 1914 - 6 January 2002) was the eldest daughter of David Henry Crompton and Lillian MacDonald Sheridan; she was a great-granddaughter of

John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly PC (20 January 1802 – 23 December 1874), known as Sir John Romilly between 1848 and 1866, was an English Whig politician and judge. He served in Lord John Russell's first administration as Solicitor-Genera ...

, her sister Catherine married Baron Henry Walston. Durán and Bontë were the parents of Cheli Durán Ryan, an author of children's books;

Lucy Durán Lucy Durán is a British ethnomusicologist, record producer and radio presenter. In the 1980s, Durán worked as a curator at the British Library National Sound Archive. She joined SOAS University of London in 1993, and is Professor of Music with ...

, ethnomusicologist; and

Jane Duran Jane Duran, born , is a Spanish-American poet, born in Cuba whilst her father was working as a diplomat in the country. Background Duran was born in Cuba to an American mother and a Spanish father, Gustavo Durán, who had fought with the Republ ...

, poet.

In fiction

His figure inspired Hemingway's ''

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...

'', Andre Malraux's '' L'Espoir''.''Gustavo Durán en las novelas de Ernest Hemingway y André Malraux'',

Javier Rupérez Francisco Javier Rupérez Rubio (born April 24, 1941) is a Spanish politician, diplomat and writer, was born in Madrid on 24 April 1941. He holds degrees in law (1962) and journalism (1975) from the Complutense University of Madrid. Since 2006 h ...

, ''

Revista de Occidente ''Revista de Occidente'' (Spanish: ''Magazine of the West'') is a cultural magazine which has been in circulation since 1923 with some interruptions. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is known for its founder, José Ortega y Gasset, a Spanish phi ...

'', ISSN 0034-8635, Nº 307, 2006 , pages 51-80 and

Max Aub Max Aub Mohrenwitz (June 2, 1903, Paris – July 22, 1972 Mexico City) was a Mexican-Spanish experimentalist novelist, playwright, poet, and literary critic. In 1965 he founded the literary periodical ''Los Sesenta'' (the Sixties), with edi ...

's ''Campo de Sangre''. Horacio Vázquez-Rial wrote '' El soldado de porcelana'' about him.

Footnotes

References

*Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. *Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution & Revenge. Harper Perennial. London. 2006. *Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2001. *

External links

*
Pictures
from the Historical Archive of 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duran, Gustavo 1906 births 1969 deaths Military personnel from Barcelona Spanish communists Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish army officers Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Cuba Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Argentina Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the United States Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the United Kingdom Spanish spies 20th-century Spanish military personnel