Ángel Pestaña Nuñez (1886–1937) was a Spanish

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The (CNT; ) is a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist national trade union center, trade union confederation. Founded in 1910 in Barcelona from groups brought together by the trade union ''Solidaridad Obrera (historical union), Solidaridad Obrera'', ...

(CNT), founder of the

Syndicalist Party The Syndicalist Party (; ) was a left-wing political party in Spain, formed by Ángel Pestaña in 1932. Pestaña, a leading member of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) trade union, formed the party in response to the growing influence ...

and member of the

Cortes Generales The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...

Life

Early years

He was born in Santo Tomás de las Ollas near

Ponferrada Ponferrada () is a city of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Ponferrada, the second most populated municipality of the Province of León, is also the capital city of El Bierzo, the only Comarcas of Spain, ''comarca'' ...

, León in a poor family. When he was 14 years old he was left orphan by both parents and from then on, he had to survive on his own. When he was 15, he was arrested for participation in a conference for the establishment of the 8-hour working day. After this event he stayed for some time in northern Spain and southern France and ended up in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, where he worked as watch maker. During his time in Algiers, he had news of the anarchist movement in Spain, and he started writing for the anarchist newspaper '' Tierra y Libertad''.

Return to Spain

After the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he returned to Spain, and joined the anarchist movement in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

, through the CNT. In 1916 he was imprisoned for three months for participating in the organization of a strike. He continued to write in workers' newspapers and took part in co-organizing the 1917 general strike along with the

Unión General de Trabajadores The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT, General Union of Workers) is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). History The UGT was founded 12 August 1888 by Pablo Iglesias Posse i ...

(UGT). In April 1919, after

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

was shaken by ''La Canadenca'' strike, Pestaña was arrested and detained. He left for Bolshevist Russia in 1920, in order to be present at the 2nd

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

Congress and the preliminary sessions of the

Profintern The Red International of Labor Unions (, RILU), commonly known as the Profintern (), was an international body established by the Communist International (Comintern) with the aim of coordinating communist activities within trade unions. Formally ...

. While in Russia, he met leaders of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

such as

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

and

Grigory Zinoviev Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev (born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky; – 25 August 1936) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. A prominent Old Bolsheviks, Old Bolshevik, Zinoviev was a close associate of Vladimir Lenin prior to ...

and the

anarcho-communist Anarchist communism is a far-left political ideology and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private real property but retention of personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and ser ...

theoretician

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

. His experience in Russia, and the reports written by him and Gaston Leval were crucial in the CNT's distancing from the bolsheviks. Together with his mentor Salvador Seguí, Pestaña opposed the

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

and terrorist actions advocated and carried out by other members of the CNT. In August 1922, he was the victim of an assassination attempt while giving a speech in

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...

, as part of the violent repression measures taken by the Spanish authorities against the labor movement. The indignation caused throughout Spain by news of this act brought the dismissal of several government officials, as well as an end to the '' Ley de fugas'', a legislation that permitted the murder of

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

activists.

Primo de Rivera dictatorship

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, ...

, Pestaña was imprisoned and CNT declared illegal. In contrast to other CNT members he proposed the idea that the confederation should try to become legal by operating inside the margins imposed by the authorities. Other members of the CNT considered this would be in contrast to the main principles of the organization and thus CNT continued to operate illegally throughout the dictatorship.

Second Republic

After 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. ...

in 1931, the conflict between Pestaña's group and

Federación Anarquista Ibérica The Iberian Anarchist Federation (, FAI) is a Spanish anarchist organization. Due to its close relation with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) anarcho-syndicalist union, it is often abbreviated as CNT-FAI. The FAI publishes the pe ...

(FAI) deepened: Pestaña initiated the issue of ''Manifiesto de los Treinta''/''Manifest dels Trenta'' ("

Manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

of the Thirty"), a clear condemnation of the Federación's tactics, one which got him expelled from the CNT in August. In 1934 he founded the

which participated in the 1936 elections with the Popular Front winning 2 places in the parliament. When the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

started he was detained in Barcelona by nationalist forces but he was released when the republicans took control of the city. He was offered a position as a minister by the CNT but refused. Supporting the line of "winning the war first" he was readmitted to the CNT in late 1937 but died shortly afterwards due to illness.

Legacy

A homage to Pestaña was made on 13 February, 1938 at the

Fuencarral Fuencarral is a neighborhood located in the northern part of Madrid, Spain. It includes the municipal area of the ancient town of Fuencarral, which was annexed to the city of Madrid by a decree of November 10, 1950. Administratively, Fuencarral b ...

Theater in Madrid, in commemoration of his birth. The tribute was attended by speakers of the Syndicalist Party, the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

, the Popular Front, the Iberian Anarchist Federation, the Republican Left and the

National Confederation of Labour 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 ...

. A square in the

Nou Barris Nou Barris (, "nine neighbourhoods") is one of the ten districts into which Barcelona has been officially divided since 1984. The name refers to the original nine neighbourhoods it was composed of, even though nowadays it is made up of thirteen. ...

district of

is named Ángel Pestaña in his honour.Urbanització de la Plaça Ángel Pestaña a Nou Barris
Publicespace.org

References

Sources

* * *Peirats, José (2011). ''The CNT in the Spanish Revolution, Volume I''. PM Press. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pestana, Angel 1886 births 1937 deaths People from Ponferrada Syndicalist Party politicians Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) 20th-century Spanish journalists