Jesus Larrañaga Churruca (17 April 1901 – 21 January 1942) was a Basque communist union leader who became one of the military leaders 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, lin ...

(1936–39). He went into exile after the fall of the Republic to the

Francoist 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, Spani ...

forces, but later returned to Portugal. He was arrested, handed over to the Spanish and executed by firing squad.

Early years

Jesus Larrañaga Churruca was born on 17 April 1901 in

Urretxu Urretxu (Spanish, ''Villareal de Urrechu'') is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain. Situated on the Urola river, it is contiguous with the larger town of Zumarraga immedia ...

, Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country. His father was a building contractor and his mother took in ironing. Two of his brothers were Jesuits at the seminary of

Javier Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * Javier (album), ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier ...

, near to

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

. He studied at the seminary for several years and was an excellent student, but was expelled for rebelling against discipline.

Union activism

Larrañaga started work as a metalworker at the wagon-making factory at

Beasain Beasain is a town and municipality located in the Goierri region of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain. It has an important industry of railway vehicles and related equipment ( CAF) that ...

, Gipuzkoa, which had 2,000 workers. He joined the ''Juventud Nacionalista'' (Nationalist Youth) and the ''Solidaridad de Trabajadores Vascos'' (

Basque Workers' Solidarity Basque Workers' Solidarity (in Basque: ''Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna'' (ELA), in Spanish: ''Solidaridad de Trabajadores Vascos'' (STV)) is the most influential trade union in Basque Country, having been created, as ''Solidaridad de Obreros Vascos ...

) trade union. He organized a strike at his factory, for which he was dismissed. He moved to

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

, and in 1926 had to emigrate to France due to his hostility to the dictatorship of

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a dictator, aristocrat, and military officer who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during Spain's Restoration era. He deepl ...

. Larrañaga settled in

Boucau Boucau (; eu, Bokale;BOKALE

Unión General de Trabajadores The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT, General Union of Workers) is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). History The UGT was founded 12 August 1888 by Pablo Iglesias Posse ...

'' (UGT), and joined the

Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Th ...

(''Partido Comunista Español'', PCE). He was placed in leadership roles in the union, and was elected to the Gipuzkoa Provincial Committee of the PCE. Larrañaga was taken into in custody just before the mutiny of the garrison at

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ea ...

in December 1930, and was released from prison in February 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 Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

was proclaimed he was elected secretary of the local CGT federation, and played a central role in the many strikes that took place in Gipuzkoa. In the 1932 party congress in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

he was elected a member of the Central Committee. That year he was sent to Moscow by the party to get advice on a question of procedure. In 1933 he founded the ''Euskadi Roja'' (Red Basque Country), which he wrote, printed and sold on the streets. In 1935 Larrañaga participated in the illegal congress at which the Communist Party of Basque Country (''Partido Comunista de Euzkadi'') was formed. He was elected to the Central Committee and Bureau of the party. Larrañaga was one of the candidates of the Popular Front (''Frente Popular'') in the elections of February 1936, in which a Republican and a socialist were elected.

Spanish Civil War

After the attempted Spanish coup of July 1936, Larrañaga was appointed war commissioner in the newly formed San Sebastián Defense Board. The Madrid government later named him general war commissioner for the Basque Country. In July 1936 General

Francisco Llano de la Encomienda Francisco Llano de la Encomienda (17 September 1879 – 1963) was a Spanish soldier who served in Africa and was promoted to General in 1931. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) he remained loyal to the Second Spanish Republic. He was in comm ...

commanded the Republican Army of the North, which included the forces of Catalonia and those of the northern coast along the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

. In this sector the regional groups refused to form a united front. Larrañaga was the commissar in the Basque Country, the anarchist Francisco Martínez was commissar in Asturias and the socialist Antonio Somarriba was commissar in Santander. The Basques distrusted Larrañaga as a communist, while the communists distrusted him as a Basque. The Basque government of José Antonio Aguirre managed to organize an army of 25,000 men, nominally part of the Army of the North, led by Larrañaga. In early December 1936 this army participated in a southward push towards

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

. They had very little air support, and their only field guns were pulled by oxen, but the troops at this stage had high morale. The Basque Government refused to formally accept Larrañaga's appointment until May 1937. During this period the PCE had a difficult relationship with the Basque nationalist authorities. At a PCE meeting on 27 July 1937 Larrañaga attacked the Basque government, creating a storm of criticism from the Republicans. He had to clarify that he spoke as a communist militant, not as army commissioner. On 4 August 1937 he was confirmed as Deputy Commissioner of the North Brigade of the army. After the fall of the northern sector later in 1937, Larrañaga was evacuated to France. He found his way back to Spain, and was arrested and tried by his own comrades in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

, but was acquitted. He continued to fight on the Aragon front. In Aragon he was a member of the Military Political Commission of the Central Committee of the Party. After the collapse of the Republic he managed to escape and go into hiding in Boucau.

Last years

At the start of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(1939–45) in September 1939 Larrañaga was in Paris. He sailed from

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic in the French ship ''De La Salle''. He went from there to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, where he held intensive planning sessions with

Vicente Uribe Vicente Uribe Galdeano (30 December 1902 – 11 July 1961) was a Spanish metalworker and politician who became a member of the executive of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). He served as Minister of Agriculture during the Spanish Civil War (19 ...

and

Julián Grimau Julián Grimau García (18 February 1911 – 20 April 1963) was a Spanish politician, member of the Communist Party of Spain, executed during Francisco Franco's Francoist State. Political activities Initially active in the Federal Republican ...

. He moved on to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he met Ramón Ormazábal. Late in September 1941 he sailed for Europe on the Portuguese ship ''Gaza'' with some companions. He had volunteered for the almost suicidal mission of rebuilding the structure of the party in Spain. The Portuguese police arrested Larrañaga, Manuel Asarta Imaz and others in Lisbon on 5 October 1941 and handed them over to the Spanish on 8 October 1941. They were held by the Political Social Brigade (''

Brigada Político Social ''Brigada'' (russian: Бригада), also known as ''Law of the Lawless'', is a Russian 15-episode crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern cr ...

'') for twenty days, then imprisoned in the Porlier jail, the Madrid provincial prison. Jesús Larrañaga and three others were processed by a military tribunal on 19 January 1942 headed by colonel Félix Navajas García, charged with joining the rebellion and breaking the Law of State Security. No mitigating statements were heard. They were sentenced to death and shot on the morning on 21 January 1942. Larrañaga was thirty-nine years old.

Publications

Notes

Sources

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