Antonio Vallejo-Nájera (1889–1960) was a Spanish psychiatrist. He was interested in

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

and proposed a link between

Marxism 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 conflict, ...

and intellectual disability, something he sought to prove through experimenting on Republican prisoners. His ideas led to the thefts of many Spanish newborns and young children from their left-wing parents in

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

; as many as 30,000 children were taken from leftist families and placed with nationalist families. Vallejo-Nájera was rewarded for his assistance 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 ...

and he became a leading figure in Spanish psychiatry.

Early life

Vallejo-Nájera was born in

Paredes de Nava Paredes de Nava is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. It is the birthplace of Renaissance painter Pedro Berruguete. Some paintings by him can be seen in the predella of the local church of Santa Eulalia ...

in 1889. He studied medicine at the

University of Valladolid The University of Valladolid is a public university located in the city of Valladolid, Valladolid province, autonomous region of Castile and Leon, Spain. Established in the 13th century, it is one of the oldest universities in the world. The ...

and joined the army’s sanitary corps in 1910, taking part in the

Rif War The Rif War (, , ) was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by France in 1924) and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco. Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at first inflicted several ...

between 1912 and 1915. During

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 posted to the military department at the Spanish Embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. There he met well-known figures of German psychiatry such as Gruhle, Schwalb and

Kraepelin Kraepelin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Emil Kraepelin Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 15 February 1856 – 7 October 1926) was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him ...

. He also conducted inspections of prisoner of war concentration camps, an activity for which he was awarded medals by Belgium and France after the war. On returning to Spain he worked at the Ciempozuelos Military Psychiatric Clinic. When the Civil War broke out he was a teacher of Psychiatry in the Military Sanitary Academy. Vallejo Nájera promoted in Spain a personal notion of

, intending to reconcile German doctrines of

racial hygiene The term racial hygiene was used to describe an approach to eugenics in the early 20th century, which found its most extensive implementation in Nazi Germany (Nazi eugenics). It was marked by efforts to avoid miscegenation, analogous to an anim ...

from authors like Schwalb with the requirements of

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

moral doctrine, opposed to state-imposed measures of eugenic restriction. He advocated ''eugamia'', a eugenic policy implemented through premarital orientation work based on the biopsychological assessment of a couple’s personality.

Spanish Civil War and Francoist repression

During the

he supported the

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

. In 1938, he was made head of the Psychiatric Services for the nationalist army and set up the ''Gabinete de Investigaciones Psicológicas de la Inspección de Campos de Concentración de Prisioneros de Guerra'' (Psychological Research Bureau of Inspection of Prisoner of War Concentration Camps), a center for psychological investigations. The bureau was established near the San Pedro de Cardeña concentration camp and had fourteen clinics in the nationalist zone. Vallejo Nájera carried out experiments on female

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army () was the main branch of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939. It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la República'' ...

prisoners in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

and

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

members held in the

monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

to establish "the bio-psychic roots of

" and find the "red gene". With the latter group of prisoners, Vallejo acted on the assumption that the prisoners were degenerate and prone to Marxist criminality. He explained "female revolutionary criminality" through the animal nature of the female psyche and the "marked sadistic nature" released when a political environment allowed women to "satisfy their latent sexual appetites". For Vallejo Nájera, Marxists were genetic retards and Marxism was a mental illness: "A priori, it seems probable that psychopaths of all types would join the Marxist ranks... Since Marxism goes together with social immorality... we presume those fanatics who fought with arms will show schizoid temperaments". Vallejo’s conclusions were that the only way to prevent the racial dissolution of the Spanish was to take away the ''red'' children from their mothers in places "away from democratic environments and where the exaltation of bio-psychic racial qualities is encouraged". By 1943, 12,043 children had been taken from their mothers and handed over to orphanages or Francoist families, but the number of children taken away from their parents may be closer to 30,000. Furthermore, many children evacuated by the Republic to France, England and elsewhere, were forced to return against the will of their parents. In some cases birth records were destroyed and the children's names changed in order to prevent any further contact with their parents. Vallejo had a direct link to the Francoist regime's organization for war orphans, , through his friend . Vallejo-Nájera contributed to the justification of the Francoist post-war repression. He said that the ''

reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * ''Reds'' (film), a 1981 American film starring and directed by Warren Beatty * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists duri ...

'' should: "suffer the punishment they deserve, with death the easiest of them all. Some will live in permanent

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

... Others will lose their freedom, groaning for years in prisons, purging their crimes with forced work in order to earn their daily bread...". According to Paul Preston the "investigations" of Vallejo-Najera provided the Francoist State with "scientific" arguments in order to "justify their views on the subhuman nature of their adversaries".

Later life

When the Civil War ended, Vallejo's support for Francoism was rewarded by his appointment as Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Madrid. "He became one of the most influential figures in Spanish Psychiatry and Psychology in the forties and fifties: his name is among the 16 founders of the Spanish Psychological Society." He died in 1960.

References

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Notes

External links

The 30,000 lost children of the Franco years are set to be saved from oblivion, ''The Independent.''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallejonajera, Antonio 1889 births 1960 deaths People from the Province of Palencia Spanish eugenicists Spanish psychiatrists Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) University of Valladolid alumni Academic staff of the Complutense University of Madrid Proponents of scientific racism Hispanic eugenics Perpetrators of political repression in Francoist Spain Medical experimentation on prisoners of war Human subject research in psychiatry