José Peirats Valls (1908–1989) was a
Spanish anarchist
Anarchism in Spain has historically gained some support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of cl ...
, activist, journalist and historian.
Biography
Peirats was born on March 15, 1908, in La Vall d'Uixo,
Province of Castellón
Castellón (officially in ca-valencia, Castelló) is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea ...
. He was the second child of Jose Peirats Dupla and Teresa Valls Rubert, who were day laborers, working as
espadrille
Espadrilles (Spanish: ''alpargatas or esparteñas''; Catalan: ''espardenyes''; Basque: ''espartinak'') are casual, rope-soled, flat but sometimes high-heeled shoes. They usually have a canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole made of ...
makers (''espardenyers'').
Peirats came to
anarchism
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 necessa ...
after moving in his early years to
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 ...
. He was a long-standing member 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) and at one point edited its newspaper, ''
Solidaridad Obrera'' ('Workers Solidarity').
Peirats was a member of anarchist groups ''Afinidad'' (1932) and ''Verdad'' (1932-1936).
He was also a member of the federation of anarchist affinity groups, 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). An account cited him as part of a delegation sent to Paris in November 1936 to purchase weapons.
In 1989, Peirats died in Barcelona.
Works
*''Anarchists in the Spanish Revolution''. London: Freedom Press, 1990. .
*''The CNT in the Spanish Revolution''. ChristieBooks, Hastings, 2005: (vol. 1); (vol. 2);
006 (vol.3).
Further reading
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References
External links
José Peiratsin the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia
José Peirats Valls Papers
1908 births
1989 deaths
People from La Vall d'Uixó
Historians of anarchism
Spanish anarchists
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members
Spanish newspaper editors
20th-century Spanish historians
Historians of the labour movement in Spain
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