Joan Montseny i Carret (1864–1942), who also wrote under the pseudonym Federico Urales, was a
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
activist and journalist from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Early life and career
Joan Montseny was born in
Reus, Spain, in 1864. He was originally a
cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
and led a union of coopers in the late 1880s. Montseny studied to become a teacher and ran a school in his hometown in 1891. In the early 1890s, Montseny's activity in the anarchist movement led to several arrests and his involvement in the
Montjuïc trial
The Montjuïc trial was a trial of anarchist suspects in the military Montjuïc Castle following the 1896 terrorist attack on the Barcelonean Corpus Christi procession. About 400 suspects were arrested, from whom 87 were put on trial and five ...
and subsequent June 1897 exile to London, though later that year, he illegally returned to Madrid to press for
judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
of the trial.
Montseny became a journalist. He worked on
Alejandro Lerroux
Alejandro Lerroux García (4 March 1864, in La Rambla, Córdoba – 25 June 1949, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party. He served as Prime Minister three times from 1933 to 1935 and held severa ...
's ''El Progreso'' before founding the periodicals ''
La Revista Blanca
''La Revista Blanca'' was a Spanish individualist anarchist magazine of sociology and arts published in Madrid by Joan Montseny (Federico Urales) and Teresa Mañé (Soledad Gustavo) from 1898 to 1905 and in Barcelona from 1 June 1923 till 15 Aug ...
'' (1898) and ''Tierra y Libertad'' (1902). The success of these publications led to relationships with notable intellectuals, though Montseny was forced away from the papers in 1905 and 1904, respectively. He split his time between Madrid and Barcelona, writing for 's ''
El Liberal
''El Liberal'' was a Spanish liberal newspaper published in Madrid between 1879 and 1936. It was one of the leading papers of Spain under the Restoration.
Between 1890 and 1906, ''El Liberal'' was edited by Miguel Moya (1856–1920), a leading Sp ...
''. He defended
Francisco Ferrer
Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (; January 14, 1859 – October 13, 1909), widely known as Francisco Ferrer (), was a Spanish radical freethinker, anarchist, and educationist behind a network of secular, private, libertarian schools in and aroun ...
in the
Morral affair
The Morral affair was the attempted regicide of Spanish King Alfonso XIII and his bride, Queen Victoria Eugenie, on their wedding day, May 31, 1906, and its subsequent effects. The attacker, Mateu Morral, acting on a desire to spur revoluti ...
and wrote books for Ferrer's
Escuela Moderna
The Ferrer school was an early 20th century libertarian school inspired by the anarchist pedagogy of Francisco Ferrer. He was a proponent of rationalist, secular education that emphasized reason, dignity, self-reliance, and scientific observatio ...
, including the
Castilian novel, ''Sembrando Flores'' (1906). In the
Primo de Rivera administration, Montseny settled in Barcelona and restarted ''La Revista Blanca'', which he ran between 1923 and 1936. He campaigned for social revolution by starting the weekly magazine ''El Luchador'' (1931–1933). Montseny also wrote under the pseudonym Federica Urales.
He followed an individualistic anarchism with no specific revolutionary program. He is a prominent example of the
anarchism without adjectives
Anarchism without adjectives (from the Spanish language, Spanish '), in the words of historian George Richard Esenwein, "referred to an hyphen, unhyphenated form of anarchism, that is, a doctrine without any qualifying labels such as Anarchist com ...
school of thought.
His family's orthodox anarchism chafed against the syndicalism of the
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo
The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo ( en, National Confederation of Labor; CNT) is a Spanish confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions, which was long affiliated with the International Workers' Association (AIT). When working wi ...
(CNT) labor union. He supported but did not join the
Federación Anarquista Ibérica
The Iberian Anarchist Federation ( es, Federación Anarquista Ibérica, FAI) is a Spanish organization of anarchist militants active within affinity groups in the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) anarcho-syndicalist union. It is often ...
(FAI) during the
Second Republic. He nevertheless influenced the CNT as a member of the Popular Front in 1936 and through his daughter,
Federica Montseny
Frederica Montseny i Mañé (; 1905–1994) was a Catalan Anarchism, anarchist and intellectual who served as Ministry of Health (Spain), Minister of Health and Social Assistance in the Government of the Second Spanish Republic, Spanish Republi ...
, who served in
Francisco 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 ...
's cabinet. Exiled to
southwestern France in 1939, Montseny died in 1942.
Personal life
In 1891, Montseny married Teresa Mañé, also known by pen name Soledad Gustavo. Together with their daughter, they were a family of orthodox anarchists.
Selected works
* ''El sindicalismo español y su orientación'' (Spanish Syndicalism and Its Orientation, 1923)
* ''La anarquía al alcance de todos'' (Anarchism for All, 1928)
* ''Los municipios libres'' (1932)
* ''El ideal y la revolución'' (The Ideal and the Revolution, 1932)
* ''La evolución de la filosofía en España'' (The Evolution of Philosophy in Spain, 1934, two volumes)
Autobiography
* ''Mi vida'' (1932, three volumes)
Novels
* ''Sembrando Flores'' (1906)
* ''Los hijos del amor'' (1922)
* ''Los grandes delincuentes'' (1923)
Collections
* ''La Novela Ideal'' (1925–1937)
* ''La Novela Libre'' (1929–1937)
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montseny, Joan
1864 births
1942 deaths
Anarchists without adjectives
Anarchists from Catalonia
Journalists from Catalonia
Novelists from Catalonia
Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France
Individualist anarchists
Male essayists
People from Reus
Spanish dramatists and playwrights
Spanish essayists
Spanish male dramatists and playwrights
Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)
Spanish male novelists
Spanish magazine founders