Segundo Blanco González (

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 ...

1899 – Mexico 1957) was an Asturian anarchist, teacher and CNT militant that participated in the governance of various republican institutions, 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

Segundo Blanco González was born in 1899 in

, a town with a strong anarchist presence. He worked in construction as a master rigger and completed his studies in teaching, although his early militant activity did not allow him to practice teaching. From a very young age, he became one of the most prominent militants of the Asturian CNT, in which there was a large payroll of anarchists of merit headed by Eleuterio Quintanilla. In 1926, during the

Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera General Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship over Spain began with a coup on 13 September 1923 and ended with his resignation on 28 January 1930. It took place during the wider reign of King Alfonso XIII. In establishing his dictatorship, ...

, he was elected Regional General Secretary of

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...

, 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 ...

and edited the Confederation's publication, ''Solidaridad''. That same year he was replaced at the head of the CNT National Committee by

Juan Peiró ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, after Segundo Blanco was arrested and tortured in December 1926 by Commander Lisardo Doval, who gained infamy in the repression of the Asturian Commune. It was his first admission to prison, being imprisoned again in 1931 and 1934. 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 ...

, he participated in the CNT Congress of 1931, where he presided over some of the sessions, and at the beginning of the

he chaired the Gijón War Committee that the city had established. Shortly after the creation of the Interprovincial Council of Asturias and León, he was appointed Minister of Industry, remaining in office until the fall of Gijón, on October 21, 1937. He was also part of the War Commission once it became the

Sovereign Council of Asturias and León The Sovereign Council of Asturias and León ( es, Consejo Soberano de Asturias y León, ast, Conseyu Soberanu d'Asturies y Llión), was an unrecognized state in northern Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Proclaimed on 6 September 1936, it was ...

. He managed to escape 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 then went to

Revolutionary Catalonia Revolutionary Catalonia (21 July 1936 – 10 February 1939) was the part of Catalonia (autonomous region in northeast Spain) controlled by various anarchist, communist, and socialist trade unions, parties, and militias of the Spanish Civil Wa ...

. From there, he rejoined the fight 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 ...

, where he was responsible for Defense on the CNT National Committee. In April 1938 he joined the government of

Juan Negrín Juan Negrín López (; 3 February 1892 – 12 November 1956) was a Spanish politician and physician. He was a leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE) and served as finance minister and ...

, occupying the ministries of

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

and

Public Health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

. His activity in these positions was marked by a lack of means and difficulty attending to the basic services of a population that decreased with each military setback, in a territory that was constantly fracturing. Shortly before the end of the war, Blanco went to the

Central zone The Central Indo-Aryan languages or Hindi languages are a group of related language Variety (linguistics), varieties Spoken across North India and Central India. These language varieties form the central part of the Indo-Aryan language family, ...

. On March 3, 1939, he warned the Madrid anarchist committees that Negrín did not intend to replace

Segismundo Casado Segismundo Casado López (10 October 1893 – 18 December 1968) was a Spanish Army officer; he served during the late Restoration, the Primo de Rivera dictatorship and the Second Spanish Republic. Following outbreak of the Spanish Civil War ...

, an

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

republican colonel. His warnings ignored, the events were precipitated by

Casado's coup The National Defence Council ( es, Consejo Nacional de Defensa) was the governing body in Republican Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The council seized power with Colonel Segismundo Casado’s coup on 5 March 1939 when ...

and the definitive collapse of the Republic. After the Civil War, Segundo Blanco crossed the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

again and settled in the city of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

by the armies of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

led him to move to Mexico, where he died in 1957. During his exile he aligned himself with the political fraction of the libertarian movement that defended unity of action with political parties, maintaining for a time his position in the governments of Juan Negrín, for which he was expelled from the CNT.

References

*. *. *. *. 1899 births 1957 deaths People from Gijón Spanish anarchists Secretaries General of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo Government ministers during the Second Spanish Republic {{anarchist-stub