Ramón Ormazábal Tife (1910 – 5 July 1982) was a Basque communist politician who was a founding member and leader of the Communist Party of the Basque Country (''Euskadiko Partidu Komunista'', EPK).

Early years: 1910–36

Ramón Ormazábal Tife was born in

Irun Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as ...

, Gipuzkoa, in 1910. He began working in Hendaye at the age of twelve, where he soon joined communist circles. He became a communist activist in Irun. After the failed insurrection of 1934 he had to flee

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

. When the

Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Th ...

(''Partido Comunista Español)'', PCE) was formed as a national organization in the spring of 1935 Ramón Ormazábal settled in

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

. There he was a founding member of the Communist Party of the Basque Country (''Euskadiko Partidu Komunista'', EPK) in 1935. He was against the autonomy of the EPK from the PCE proposed by Juan Astigarrabía, who was expelled from the party for "nationalist deviation".

War Years: 1936–45

When 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 ...

(1936–39) began Ormazábal became a member of the Basque Defense Council before it was formally constituted by the Basque government. He was the director of the journal ''Euzkadi Roja'' (Red Basque Country), the organ of the Spanish Communist Party. At the end of the civil war he was arrested in 1939 in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

. A year later he escaped from prison in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

and went into exile, first in the United States and then in South America, where he became a communist organizer.

Later career: 1945–82

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(1939–45) Ormazábal moved to France in 1946, and continued to work for the party in exile and clandestinely in Spain, He was arrested in 1962, accused of being one of the leaders of the strikes that year in

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

and Biscay, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was one of ten members of the FUL who were sentenced at a summary court martial on 21 September 1962. Ormazábal was released in 1970 after eight years and made secretary general of the party in France, holding this office until the 1977 Congress of the Communist Party of the Basque Country in 1977. He was replaced by Roberto Lertxundi as secretary general of the EPK at the party's third congress, which was held in the spring of 1977 in Bilbao. The congress took place after the PCE performed dismally in the elections in Basque Country. Lertxundi, a physician and former member of the armed '' Euzkadi Ta Azkatasuna'' (ETA) group, was thought to be more in touch with the electorate. Ormazábal was elected president at this congress, and was reelected president in the congress of 1981. He died from a heart attack in Bilbao on 5 July 1982 at the age of 72.

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