Ramona Berni i Toldrà (3 June 1887,

Mollerussa Mollerussa is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Pla d'Urgell, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nation ...

– 22 April 1968,

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 ...

) was a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist militant from

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Biography

She was born to a family of peasants from

Pla d'Urgell PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called th ...

. She was the daughter of Isabel Toldrà i Ginesta and Ramón Berni i Buria and she had two sisters. In the 1910s she moved to Barcelona where she worked in the textile industry and joined the Manufacturing and Textile Union of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), being one of the main propagandists of the union together with her friend Pepita Not. In 1918 she met

Ricardo Sanz García Ricardo Sanz García (1898–1986) was a leader of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) during the Spanish Civil War. He led the Durruti Column following the death of its namesake. Early life and career Ricardo Sanz García was bo ...

, Pepita's future partner and union leader. At the end of the 1910s, Berni married Blas Buyé and had a son. She got a divorce in 1933. In 1923, with Pepita Not and Ricardo Sanz, she joined the group ''

Los Solidarios Los Solidarios (“Solidarity”), also known as Crisol (“Crucible”), was a Spanish anarchist armed-struggle group founded in 1922 in Barcelona, as a reply to the dirty war strategy used by the employers and government against trade unions. ...

'', created as a defense against the gunmen of the

Sindicato Libre The ''Sindicatos Libres'' (Spanish for "Free Trade Unions"; ca, Sindicats Lliures) was a Spanish company union born in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was established by Carlist workers, and remained active during the early interwar period (the late stag ...

. This group (''Los Solidarios'') was made up of Buenaventura Durruti,

Juan García Oliver Joan Garcia i Oliver (1901–1980) was a Catalan anarcho-syndicalist revolutionary and Minister of Justice of the Second Spanish Republic. He was a leading figure of anarchism in Spain. Career Childhood and family Joan Garcia i Oliver was ...

, Francisco Ascaso, Eusebio Brau, Julia López Mainar, María Luisa Tejedor, and others. In the group she had recruitment, liaison and communication responsibilities. Although Berni was never imprisoned for her membership in the group, she was arrested, along with her son Jaume Buyé i Berni, by the police on February 28, 1924, after the murder of ''Los Solidarios'' leader Gregorio Suberbiela, for which she remained at the disposal of the military authority for a few weeks. During the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the group was reduced to four members who remained at large, including Berni, dealing with different actions such as the transfer of weapons acquired in Éibar to Barcelona. After the proclamation of 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 ...

, she continued her trade union activity, and participated in several CNT meetings in Igualada (1931),

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

and Canet de Mar (1932). After the insurrection of Alt Llobregat, she settled in

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographical centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are ...

(according to some sources in 1934, others in 1936), where she worked as a textile worker. 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 ...

the factory she worked in was collectivized and she held the position of union representative. She also collaborated in the Manresa City Council, being on the payroll of the Department of Internal Security. Her last public appearance was at a rally at the Kursaal in Manresa in 1938. At the end of the civil war, she went into exile, perhaps in

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 ...

, although there is no record of her passing through any of the

French concentration camps Numerous internment camps and concentration camps were located in France before, during and after World War II. Beside the camps created during World War I to intern German, Austrian and Ottoman civilian prisoners, the Third Republic (1871–1940 ...

. She died in Barcelona on 22 April 1968, although, according to some sources, there are doubts about both the date of her birth and the date of her death.

References

{{Reflist Women trade unionists Anarcho-syndicalists Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Anarchists from Catalonia Trade unionists from Catalonia Spanish anarchists 1887 births 1968 deaths