Antonio García Quejido (16 February 1856 – 13 June 1927) was a Spanish politician, trade unionist, the first president of 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) and the first general secretary of 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 ...

(PCE).

Biography

Antonio García Quejido was born in Madrid and was a typographer by profession. From a young age he was a member of the

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

circle in Madrid led by Pablo Iglesias named ''Nueva Federación Madrileña,'' which was a predecessor of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

''.'' He became one of the leaders of the party and represented the PSOE in multiple congresses of the

Second International The Second International, also called the Socialist International, was a political international of Labour movement, socialist and labour parties and Trade union, trade unions which existed from 1889 to 1916. It included representatives from mo ...

''.'' In 1888, he participated in the founding of the General Union of Workers (UGT), of which he was elected president. Between 1894 and 1905 he held the position of general secretary of the union center. In 1897 he was elected secretary of the national committee of the PSOE, although he left the leadership of the UGT when his proposal for an alliance with the bourgeois republicans was turned down. He was reinstated as secretary general of the UGT from 1899 to 1902. In 1901 he edited the first volume of '' Kapital'', by

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

in Spanish. García Queido was the Socialist candidate in numerous elections, in 1909 he was elected councilor of the

Madrid City Council The City Council of Madrid () is the top-tier administrative and governing body of Madrid, the capital and biggest city of Spain. The city council is composed by three bodies: the mayor, who leads the city council and the executive branch of it; ...

. From then on he opposed the alliance with the Republicans. In 1912 he was appointed director of '' El Socialista,'' the official newspaper of the PSOE. After the outbreak 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 was against both imperialist sides, unlike the Allied positions of the majority of the PSOE leaders. When the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

broke out in 1917, he was one of the socialist leaders who supported the entry of the PSOE into the

Third International 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 Internation ...

, a position who took favor of within the Party until 1921, when the split that gave rise to the Spanish Communist Workers' Party (PCOE), of which he was the founder; and later to the

(PCE), of which he was elected its first general secretary. After the 1923 general election, he resigned as general secretary and did not hold any significant posts after his resignation. García Quejido died on 13 June 1927, at the age of seventy one in Madrid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Quejido, Antonio 1856 births 1927 deaths Spanish trade union leaders Spanish communists Spanish socialists Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Spanish Marxists Communist Party of Spain politicians Unión General de Trabajadores members Politicians from Madrid