Anna Maria Martínez Sagi (16 February 1907 – 2 January 2000) was a Spanish poet, trade unionist, journalist,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and athlete. She was national champion in the

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

and became the first female director of a Spanish football club. During 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 ...

she followed the

Durruti Column The Durruti Column (Spanish: ''Columna Durruti''), with about 6,000 people, was the largest anarchist column (or military unit) formed during the Spanish Civil War. During the first months of the war, it became the most recognized and popular mil ...

as a journalist and was then exiled to France, living in different places. During World War II she joined 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 ...

and evaded capture by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. Afterwards she worked for the

Aga Khan Aga Khan (; ; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Imām of the Nizari Isma'ilism, Nizari Isma'ilism, Ismāʿīli Shia Islam, Shias. The current holder of the title is the ...

and then moved to the United States where she taught at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. After the death of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

, she returned to Catalonia where she lived in obscurity near to Barcelona.

Early life

Martínez Sagi was born into a

genteel Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

family in Barcelona,

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 ...

, in 1907. Her father worked in textiles and her mother encouraged her children to speak in Spanish and English, but not Catalan. Martínez Sagi learned Catalan, the language she would later write in, from her nanny.

Career

A sports enthusiast, Martinez Sagi was a national champion in

. Her brother, Armand Martínez Sagi (1919–1923), and cousin,

Emilio Sagi Liñán Emilio "Emili" Sagi Liñán (15 March 1900 – 25 May 1951), was a footballer who played as a forward for FC Barcelona. Born in Argentina, he played for the Catalan XI and Spain national teams during the 1920s and 1930s. He was the son of Emil ...

, played for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, and in 1934, she became a Director of FC Barcelona, the first woman to do so in Spanish football's history. Together with Josefina Carabias, Martínez Sagi became a key journalist in

Republican Spain 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 interviewed various people, including beggars, prostitutes, and Catalan politicians. Martínez Sagi's articles focused especially on

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

, a controversial issue at the time. She joined the

as a journalist during the

, after hearing the anarchist

Buenaventura Durruti José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange (14 July 1896 – 20 November 1936) was a Spanish anarchist revolutionary involved with the CNT and the FAI in the periods before and during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. Durruti played an influe ...

talk at the

Palau Reial de Pedralbes The Royal Palace of Pedralbes (; ) is a building placed in the middle of an ample garden in the district of Les Corts, in Barcelona. From 1919 until 1931 and since 1975 it has been the official residence for the Spanish royal family when they vi ...

. In addition to journalistic work, she also published several books of poetry. Her desperate and distressed style was similar to that of the Latin American poets

Juana de Ibarbourou Juana Fernández Morales de Ibarbourou, also known as Juana de América, (March 8, 1892 – July 15, 1979) was a Uruguayan poet and one of the most popular writers of Spanish America. Her poetry, the earliest of which is often highly erotic, is ...

Alfonsina Storni Alfonsina Storni (29 May 1892 – 25 October 1938) was a Swiss Argentines, Swiss-Argentine poet and playwright of the Modernismo, modernist period. Early life Storni was born on May 29, 1892, in Sala Capriasca, Switzerland. Her parents were Alf ...

, and

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator, and Catholic. She was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order or Third Franciscan order. She was ...

. After her first book of poetry, ''Caminos'', was published in 1930,

Alberto Insúa Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albertin ...

compared Martínez Sagi to

Rosalía de Castro María Rosalía Rita de Castro (; 23 February 1837 – 15 July 1885), was a Galician poet and novelist, considered one of the most important figures of the 19th-century Spanish literature and modern lyricism. Widely regarded as the greatest Gali ...

. As a feminist, Martínez Sagi espoused ideas which came from France. She founded the first club of women workers of Barcelona, which worked to improve literacy among women. In 1932, she fell in love the writer

Elisabeth Mulder Elisabeth Mulder Pierluisi (married name, Elizabeth Mulder de Dauner; 9 February 1904 – 28 November 1987) was a Spanish writer, poet, translator, journalist and literary critic. Early life Elisabeth Mulder Pierluisi was born on 9 February 1 ...

, but her feelings were not reciprocated and Martínez Sagi's family separated them. After the end of the civil war, Martínez Sagi was exiled to France, where she lived in Paris and then

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

. When World War II broke out, she participated in the

and in 1942 was nearly captured by the

when they raided her apartment and she left through a window. Selling handkerchiefs on the streets of Cannes she met the wife of the

and worked for her as an interior designer, before moving to

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. In 1950, she moved to the US, and, having a degree in French Language and Literature, she was able to teach at the

. She returned to Catalonia in 1975, after the death of

, moving to

Moià Moià () (Spanish: Moyá) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Moianès, Catalonia, Spain. Since May 2015 it has been the capital of the new comarca of Moianès; previously it was in Bages Bages () is a comarca (county) in the central reg ...

near Barcelona. She retired to private life in which her neighbours knew nothing about her past and regarded her as a stern old lady. The novelist Juan Manuel de Prada tracked her down and interviewed. Her posthumously published her writings in ''La voz sola'' (2019). She died in 2000.

Selected works

*''Caminos'' *''Laberinto de presencias: antología poética'' *''Inquietud'' *''La voz sola''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez Sagi, Ana Maria 1907 births 2000 deaths Women writers from Catalonia Poets from Catalonia Journalists from Catalonia LGBTQ people from Catalonia Spanish LGBTQ journalists Spanish LGBTQ poets Spanish LGBTQ sportspeople Sportswomen from Catalonia Spanish female javelin throwers LGBTQ track and field athletes Spanish trade unionists Spanish feminists FC Barcelona Spanish women poets Spanish women journalists 20th-century Spanish women writers 20th-century Spanish poets French Resistance members Athletes from Barcelona Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France 20th-century Spanish LGBTQ people Catalan Anti-Francoists Spanish women trade unionists 20th-century Spanish sportswomen