Encarnación Magaña Gómez ( Tabernas, 30 November 1921 –

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

, 11 August 1942), also known as Encarnita Magaña and Encarnación García Córdoba, was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and libertarian feminist. She was a member of the Iberian Federation of Libertarian Youth and 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), and served as interim secretary of Mujeres Libres. Magaña was executed by the

Francoists 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 ...

after being tried in the infamous ''Parte Inglés trial'', making her the only woman executed after 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 ...

in the

province of Almería Almería (, also ; ) is a province of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It was named after the Arab ruler of Taifa, Banu Al-Miri. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is the homony ...

Biography

Magaña was born in Tabernas, in the

, on 30 November 1921. She became

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

ed at a young age following the death of her mother, Dolores Gómez Soriano, a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...

, and her father, José Magaña Rosa, a farm laborer. Afterward, she was adopted by Rafael García Montesinos and Epifanía Córdoba Tortosa, taking on their surnames. She developed her political and intellectual commitment during her youth by joining the Iberian Federation of Libertarian Youth, an

youth organization where she served as secretary and interim secretary of Mujeres Libres. She was also a member of the

(CNT) and worked as a saleswoman at the Librería Inglesa in

. After the end of the war, Magaña began to oppose

Franco's regime Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of History of Spain, Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . ...

in an organized manner. She married José Hernández Ojeda, with whom she engaged in agitation and propaganda activities. Magaña organized the charitable International Antifascist Solidarity Festival at the Cervantes Theatre in Almería, and she visited anarchist militiamen on the front of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

to bring them newspapers and food. On 3 August 1939, she was imprisoned for the first time at the provincial women's prison in Almería, known as ''Gachás colorás'', where she continued her political activity in service of the International Red Aid among

antifascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

political prisoners and externally. She was released in the spring of 1940.

''El Parte Inglés''

Taking advantage of her work at the Librería Inglesa, Magaña, along with other antifascists led by Joaquín Villaespesa Quintana, undertook the task of translating and copying bulletins from the British

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

about

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. These were later distributed in Almería and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

through the antifranco publication '' El Campense'', in support of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

in the war against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

under

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. A denunciation exposed Magaña to the

Francoist 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 ...

authorities. She was arrested for disseminating subversive propaganda and belonging to an underground organization by the

FET y de las JONS The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (; FET y de las JONS), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...

investigation service. She was imprisoned on March 24, 1941, and was never released. Many of her comrades in the organization were arrested a month later. They were tried in a trial known as ''El Parte Inglés'', which had a significant impact in post-war Almería. Magaña was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

in an exemplary judgment, along with eight other companions, in a trial with few procedural guarantees. Magaña was executed at the age of 20 in Almería on the night of 11 August 1942, alongside Joaquín Villaespesa Quintana, Cristóbal Company García, Francisco García Luna, Justo Ruiz Pelegrina, Juan Hernández Granados, Diego Molina Matarín, and Francisco Martín Vázquez. She was buried in a mass grave with two of them. She was the only woman executed during Franco's regime in Almería.

Legacy

In 2020, a street in Tabernas was named Encarnación Magaña in recognition of her struggle for freedom, making it the first street in this town in Almería to be named after a woman. The story of Encarnación Magaña and that of the eight others executed with her are recounted in the book "El Parte Inglés. La lucha antifranquista desde la clandestinidad en Almería" published by

Círculo Rojo ''Círculo rojo'' () is a Spanish thriller television series that originally aired on Antena 3 in 2007. The cast features María Adánez, María Botto, Carmen Maura, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Jaime Blanch, and Jorge Bosch, among others. Premis ...

, based on the research by historian Eusebio Rodríguez Padilla.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magaña, Encarnación 1921 births 1942 deaths Anarcha-feminists Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Politicians from Andalusia Spanish socialist feminists Spanish syndicalists Spanish women's rights activists Spanish women of the Spanish Civil War Spanish Anti-Francoists Spanish women trade unionists