Horacio Martínez Prieto (1902–1985) was a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...

, of the libertarian possibilist tendency, and on two occasions the General Secretary of the CNT.

Biography

Acracio Martínez Prieto was born in

Santurtzi Santurtzi ( es, Santurce; eu, Santurtzi ) is a port town in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, Spain. It is located in the Bilbao Abra bay, near the mouth of the Nervión river, on its left bank, 14 km dow ...

as the son of an anarchist father, his named was changed to Horacio by the Bilbao civil registry of the Ollerías neighborhood. Horacio studied at a municipal school, where he was beaten by his teacher – to which his father responded with a knife. Despite being a good student, Horacio did not receive any scholarship and had to immediately find work. As a teenager, he discarded all the predominant ideologies (

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

or Carlism) and instead formed a libertarian group, "Los sin patria" (Those without country). Horacio was saved from being lynched by a group of Basque nationalists, due to the intervention of a rival gang from the Bilbao neighborhood of Bolueta. He took up the habit of carrying a pistol, which landed him in the Larrinaga prison in Bilbao at only 18 years of age, where he came into contact with a variety of different comrades. An attack in Altos Hornos de Vizcaya meant for Horacio the beginning of a long series of dangerous incidents, which forced him into exile in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, leaving his mother, already a widow, in Bilbao. Not long after

Primo de Rivera Primo de Rivera is a Spanish family prominent in politics of the 19th and 20th centuries: *Fernando Primo de Rivera (1831–1921), Spanish politician and soldier *Miguel Primo de Rivera (1870–1930), nephew of Fernando, military officer and dictat ...

's coup in 1923, Horacio participated in an attempted anarchist takeover of Vera de Bidasoa, but managed to escape again. In 1931, when 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 King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

was proclaimed, he joined the CNT. In 1932 he was invited by the PCE to visit Russia along with the director of ''Tierra Vasca'', but he returned with unfavorable impressions – he was initially cautious in sharing his views but later published a pamphlet that was critical of the Soviet system. Following the CNT's participation in the

Revolution of 1934 The Revolution of 1934, also known as the Revolution of October 1934 or the Revolutionary General Strike of 1934, was a revolutionary strike movement that took place between 5 and 19 October 1934, during the black biennium of the Second Spanis ...

, he took the post of Deputy Secretary of the CNT, and in 1935 at the Congress of Zaragoza, Prieto replaced Miguel Yoldi as the CNT's general secretary. The outbreak of 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 ...

surprised Prieto in Bilbao, where he represented the CNT in the ''Basque Defence Council'' until he moved to Barcelona. Due to his proposal to involve the CNT in the governments of Azaña and

Largo Caballero Francisco Largo Caballero (15 October 1869 – 23 March 1946) was a Spanish politician and trade unionist. He was one of the historic leaders of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and of the Workers' General Union (UGT). In 1936 and 19 ...

, he was accused of being a traitor and a liquidationist, which led him to resign from his post in November 1936, although he continued representing the Northern Region in the CNT's National Committee and as a member of the Political Advisory Commission (CAP), from where he defended the participation of the CNT in the government of the Second Spanish Republic. Affiliated with the FAI, he was general director of commerce under the ministry of Juan López Sánchez (November 1936 – May 1937) and Undersecretary of Health under Segundo Blanco (April 1938 – February 1939). From the magazine '' Timón '', directed by

Diego Abad de Santillán Diego Abad de Santillán (20 May 1897 – 18 October 1983), also known as his born name Sinesio Baudilio García Fernández, was an anarcho-syndicalist activist and economist. Selected works * ''After the Revolution: Economic Reconstructi ...

, he defended his view that the FAI be transformed into a political party. At the same time he was part of an alliance committee with the UGT and called for the opening of negotiations with the Nationalist faction. At the end of the war he went into exile, where he was a leading member of the

Spanish Libertarian Movement The Spanish Libertarian Movement ( es, Movimiento Libertario Español, MLE) was a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist organization founded at the end of the Spanish Civil War by the CNT, the FAI and the FIJL to develop a joint clandestine activity in ...

, defending anarchist participation in the Spanish Republican government in exile. He was Minister of Development in the two governments of

José Giral José Giral y Pereira (22 October 1879 – 23 December 1962) was a Spanish people, Spanish politician, who served as the 75th Prime Minister of Spain during the Second Spanish Republic. Life Giral was born in Santiago de Cuba. He had degree ...

(1945–1947) and was one of the signatories of the manifesto of 23 January 1948, calling for the transformation of the MLE into a political party. Horacio Martínez Prieto died in his Parisian exile, leaving six volumes of memoirs and several pamphlets on anarcho-syndicalism, the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and the future of the CNT unpublished.

Works

* '' Anarchosyndicalism. How we make the Revolution '' (1933) * '' Facets of the USSR '' (Santander 1933) * '' The Problems of the Spanish Revolution '' (1933) * '' Relative Anarchism. Revisionist Fact Criticism and Suggestion '' (Mexico 1948) * '' Spanish Anarchism in the Political Struggle '' (1946) * '' Marxism and Libertarian Socialism '' (1947) * '' Libertarian Possibilism '', Choisy-le-Roi, Imp. Des Gondoles, 1966. 181 p.WorldCat.org reference
Accessed in June 2014 * '' Profile and Personality of Galo Díez '' (unpublished) * '' Basque government. Some Background to the Euskadi-North CNT White Paper '' (unpublished)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez Prieto, Horacio 1902 births 1985 deaths Secretaries General of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo