José Penido Iglesias (born 1894 or 1895) was a Galician anarcho-syndicalist and military commander 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 ...

Biography

Born in Santiago de Compostela, in 1894 or 1895, in his youth he studied medicine. He emigrated to America, where he lived for some time and became involved in

trade unionism A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

. Upon his return to Spain, he joined the Republican Left party, later joining the

National Confederation of Labor National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(CNT). In July 1936, after the outbreak of the

, he escaped to

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

. He took command of an anarchist battalion composed mainly of Galicians, known as the Galicia battalion. In August 1937, he received the command of the 183rd Mixed Brigade, fighting during the

Asturias Offensive The Asturias Offensive ( es, Ofensiva de Asturias) was an offensive in Asturias during the Spanish Civil War which lasted from 1 September to 21 October 1937. 45,000 men of the Spanish Republican Army met 90,000 men of the Nationalist forces. ...

. After the fall of the Northern Front, he returned to the central Republican area, where he held command of the 39th Mixed Brigade and of the

5th Division In military terms, 5th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *5th Division (Australia) * 5th Division (People's Republic of China) *5th Division (Colombia) *Finnish 5th Division (Continuation War) *5th Light Cavalry Division (France) *5th Moto ...

, with which he intervened in the

Levante Offensive The Levante Offensive, launched near the end of March 1938, was an attempt by Nationalist forces under Francisco Franco to capture the Republican held city of Valencia during the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalists occupied the province of Castel ...

. Captured by the Francoists, he was sent to a concentration camp. He spent some time in jail, leaving prison in 1943. During the immediate postwar years he was one of those responsible for the reconstruction of the anarcho-syndicalist movement in the north, forming part of the clandestine Regional Committee of the CNT of Asturias, León and

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...

– constituted in 1942. Some time later he was elected foreign delegate of the CNT of the interior, moving to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and settling in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. This would avoid him being arrested during an important police raid against the CNT, which occurred in 1947. In France he continued to defend the theses of the CNT's possibilist tendency, wrote for the newspapers ''Acción'' (1946) and ''Exilio'' (Aynes, 1946) and participated in the plenary held in Toulouse in December 1947 in which he defended the motion on relations with the socialist UGT. The following year he described himself as an "anarcho-monarchist", a supporter of the

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, and with Miguel Vazquez y Chamorro he formed a regional committee of Galicia which published the newspaper ''Solidaridad'' in Toulouse from 1948 to 1950. He later emigrated to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

where in 1956 he presided over the Galician Center and in the early sixties was a member of the management of the Galician Brotherhood of Venezuela. He returned to

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 ...

in 1964 and settled in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in 1966.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iglesias, Jose Penido People from Galicia (Spain) Spanish anarcho-syndicalists People from Santiago de Compostela Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)