Soledad Kasilda Hernáez Vargas (1914–1992) 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 ...

anarchist militant who fought in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. An anarchist from an early age, during the time of the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

, she was a prominent participant in the Basque anarchist movement, being imprisoned for her role 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 an uprising during the " black biennium" of the Second Spanish Republic between 5 and 19 October 1934. The Revolution of ...

. With the outbreak of civil war, she fought within the

confederal militias The confederal militias were a movement of people's militia during the Spanish Civil War organized by the Spanish anarchist movement: the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) and the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). The CNT militias repl ...

, transferring to the Aragon front after the

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

won the

War in the North The War in the North () was a theatre of the Spanish Civil War that occurred in northern Spain from 31 March to 21 October 1937. The Nationalists launched a number of offensives into parts of the Basque Country, Santander (Cantabria), and ...

. After the Republic's defeat, she went into exile in France, where she supported the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

Spanish Maquis The Maquis (; ; also spelled maqui) were Spanish guerrillas who waged irregular warfare against the Francoist dictatorship within Spain following the Republican defeat in the Spanish Civil War until the early 1960s, carrying out sabotage, rob ...

and eventually

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

Biography

Hernáez was born to an unmarried mother and unknown father in the Fraisoro de Zizurkil cradle house. Her grandmother was a

calé The Romani in Spain, generally known by the Endonym and exonym, endonym ''Calé'', or the Endonym and exonym, exonym (), belong to the Romani people#Romani subgroups, Iberian Romani subgroup known as Calé, with smaller populations in Portugal ...

, and her anarchist uncles influenced her early libertarian initiation. She grew up in the Donostia neighbourhood of , where she learned to read and write at the Atocha public school. Following the proclamation of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

, she joined the

Libertarian Youth The Iberian Federation of Libertarian Youth ( (FIJL)), sometimes abbreviated as Libertarian Youth (''Juventudes Libertarias''), is a anarcho-syndicalist organisation created in 1932 in Madrid.Esenwein, p.269 History The FIJL was created in 1932 ...

and attended the libertarian athenaeums, which became a second school for her. She was briefly arrested for calling for a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

in a company whose workforce was made up of women. Her practice of

nudism Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

on beach also caused a scandal at the time. Her intense participation in the

led to her being arrested and sentenced by a military tribunal to nine years in prison for distributing propaganda and twenty more for possession of explosives. She was imprisoned in the and later transferred to the in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. But after two years of imprisonment, she was released thanks to the general

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

granted by the Popular Front following the

1936 Spanish general election Legislative elections were held in Spain on 16 February 1936. At stake were all 473 seats in the unicameral Cortes Generales. The winners of the 1936 elections were the Popular Front, a left-wing coalition of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Par ...

. Shortly after her release from prison, she met the anarchist militant Felix Likiniano, who was to become her lifelong companion, and became sympathetic to the

Mujeres Libres Mujeres Libres () was an anarchism, anarchist women's organisation that existed in Spain from 1936 to 1939. Founded by Lucía Sánchez Saornil, Mercedes Comaposada, and Amparo Poch y Gascón as a small women's group in Madrid, it rapidly grew to ...

group, created the same year, although she did not become a member. After the outbreak of the

in July 1936, she joined an anti-Francoist militia, taking part in the defence of Donostia and the battle of Irun. Following the fall of Euskadi, she transferred to the Levante and fought within the Hilario-Zamora column on the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

and Ebro fronts. After the fall of Catalonia, she went into exile with Likiniano in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where they were detained in the Argelès and Gurs concentration camps until the summer of 1940. Once free, they moved to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Their domicile served as a centre of resistance against

Francoism Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

and

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, and was known as the "Basque Consulate". Years later, after the weakening of the anarchist movement, the couple came to support the

Basque National Liberation Movement The Basque National Liberation Movement (; Basque: Euskal Nazio Askapenerako Mugimendua, "ENAM") was an umbrella term that comprised all social, political and armed organizations orbiting around the ideas of the illegal armed organisation Euskadi ...

and the armed organisation

Euskadi ta Askatasuna ETA, an acronym for ("Basque Homeland and Liberty"ETA BASQUE ORGANIZATION
Encyclo ...

(ETA). However, the relationship between Kasilda and Felix cooled and she fell into a depressive state from which she would later recover. Hernáez died of cancer in

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz (; ,Donibane Lohitzune
Auñamendi Encyclopedia, Auñamendi Eu ...

, France, on 31 August 1992. She is buried together with Felix Likiniano in the cemetery of

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

. On her tombstone, her friend Begoña Gorospe inscribed the phrase "Woman, you are the fire that does not go out!" ().

Recognition

In 1985, Luis María Jiménez de Aberásturi published the biography ''Casilda, miliciana: historia de un sentimiento''. In 2021, the theatre group Goitibera premiered ''Kasilda, bukatzen ez den sua'', a play in her honour. In 2022 the documentary ''Casilda, el eco de otros pasos'', by director Juan Felipe, deals with the figure of Hernáez. This year also saw the publication of the graphic novel ''Casilda revolucionaria'' by Rubén Uceda Villanueva, which narrates her life in the first person.

References

External links

KASILDA, bukatzen ez den sua.
Theatre play trailer.
Coloquio sobre el documental ''Casilda. El eco de otros pasos.''
Interview with: Juan Felipe (director), Luis Jiménez de Aberraturi (writer), Xabier Erauskin (FAL), Josetxo Etxeberria (Liburutopia Kultur Elkartea).
Mujeres malditas.
RTVE radio play. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernáez, Kasilda 1914 births 1992 deaths Basque anarchists Basque Anti-Francoists Basque nationalists Basque women in politics Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members ETA (separatist group) activists Gurs internment camp survivors Romani anarchists Romani feminists Spanish emigrants to France Spanish feminists Spanish Romani people Spanish women of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish women trade unionists Calé people