Aurelio Fernández Sánchez (

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, 1897 -

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, 1974) was an Asturian anarchist.

Biography

Aurelio Fernández Sánchez joined the

National Confederation of Labor 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 ...

( CNT) in his youth. He participated in the Spanish general strike of 1917, and had to hide in

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. He joined the anarchist group

Los Solidarios ''Los Solidarios'' (; or The Solidaristic) was a Anarchism in Spain, Spanish anarchist militant group, established in 1922 to combat the rise of ''pistolerismo'' and company union, yellow syndicalism, which represented the interests of business ...

in 1922, with which he took part in an assault on the

Bank of Spain The Bank of Spain (, ) is the national central bank for Spain within the Eurosystem. It was the Spanish central bank from 1874 to 1998, issuing the peseta. Since 2014, it has also been Spain's national competent authority within European Banki ...

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

in September 1923. He also planned the assassination of

Severiano Martínez Anido Severiano Martínez Anido (21 May 1862 – 24 December 1938) was a Spanish general who served in a number of government posts in Spain during the Primo de Rivera and Francoist dictatorships. He became known for the violent repression of the lab ...

, the civil governor of Barcelona. During the

dictatorship of Miguel 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 imprisoned in

March 1924 The following events occurred in March 1924: March 1, 1924 (Saturday) *The Nixon Nitration Works disaster, an explosion of ammonium nitrate, killed at least 18 people, destroyed several miles of New Jersey factories, and demolished the " ...

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 ...

, but he escaped and fled to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He returned to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

but was arrested at the end of the year and imprisoned in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

along with his companion

María Luisa Tejedor Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

. During the years 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. ...

, he stood out as one of the leaders of the

Iberian Anarchist Federation 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), and for being a supporter of the anarchist insurrections in January 1932,

January 1933 The following events occurred in January 1933: January 1, 1933 (Sunday) *The Soviet Union began its second Five-year plans of the Soviet Union, Five-Year Plan with the goal of more than doubling the gross national product, from 43 billion r ...

and December 1933. In July 1936, after the outbreak of 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 ...

, he joined the

Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia The Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia () was an administrative body created on 21 July 1936 by the president of the Government of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, under pressure by the anarcho-syndicalists of the National Confe ...

(CCMA) as a representative of the FAI, assuming direction of the Research Department. From that position, he supervised the actions undertaken by the

Control Patrols The Control Patrols () of the Central Committee of Anti-fascist Militias of Catalonia was a public order force, mainly composed by CNT- FAI militias, replacing the official police forces which had been discredited after the coup d'état of Jul ...

, and also authorized the assault on the prison ship ''Uruguay'' during which several

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

prisoners were executed. Joan Pons Garlandí ( ERC) denounced the control patrols for their actions. When the CCMA was replaced by the new Internal Security Board, Fernández continued as head of the control patrols when he was appointed

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 new body. After he was violently confronted by the police chief Andreu Rebertés (ERC), in late November 1936, he accused Rebertés of conspiracy against the

Generalitat Generalitat (, literally in English 'Generality') is the name of two major medieval and early modern political institutions and their modern-day analogues in Kingdom of Spain. The ancient Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Valencia we ...

, then arrested and killed him. Rebertés' replacement was the PSUC militant Eusebio Rodríguez, who was also entrusted with the same goal. In a meeting in the office of the Minister of Homeland Security, Aurelio Fernández attacked Rodríguez to the point that the minister Artemi Aiguader i Miró had to shoot him with a pistol to stop him. As a member of the Junta, Aurelio went to

La Fatarella La Fatarella () is a municipality in northern Terra Alta, within the region of Ribera d'Ebre in Spain. History One of the oldest buildings in La Fatarella was a Muslim watchtower in the site where the chapel of ''Mare de Déu of the Misericòrdi ...

in January 1937, where peasants resisted the collectivizing expropriation of their lands pushed by the anarchists, and under his observation the FAI militias executed 30 peasants and sacked the town. He also acted as Minister of Health and Social Welfare of the Generalitat between 16 April and 5 May 1937. The May events of

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

allowed the Generalitat and the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

to regain control of the institutions and public order. Fernández fiercely resisted the new security delegate, a part of the republican state's police force, but was eventually imprisoned. A major investigation was then launched into the murders and robberies committed between July 1936 and May 1937: Aurelio Fernández was prosecuted for fraud and extortion. Finally, he was imprisoned for being the alleged inducer of the frustrated attack against the president of the Barcelona Court

Josep Andreu i Abelló Josep is a Catalan masculine given name equivalent to Joseph (Spanish ''José''). People named Josep include: * Josep Bargalló (born 1958), Catalan philologist and former politician * Josep Bartolí (1910-1995), Catalan painter, cartoonist and ...

. He later went into exile in France with

Joan García Oliver Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters ** Joan of Arc (c. 1412–1431), patron saint of France *Joan (surname) Art and media * ''Joan'' (Alexander McQueen ...

and then went on to

, where he died in 1974.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez Sanchez, Aurelio 1897 births 1974 deaths People from Asturias Anarchists from Asturias Health ministers of Catalonia Spanish emigrants to Mexico