Francesc Tomàs Oliver (1850–1903) was a Spanish

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 ...

, a

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsperson and tradesperson who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of maso ...

by profession, who said that the

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

had to be led by "workers with calluses on their hands." A member of the Federal Commission of the Spanish Regional Federation of the

International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist g ...

(1870–1881) and of its successor the

Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region The Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region (, FTRE) was a Spanish anarchist organization founded in the Barcelona Workers' Congress of 1881 by the initiative of a group of Catalans, Catalan anarcho-syndicalists headed Josep Llunas i Pujals, Ra ...

(1881–1888), he was the author of the first history of the beginnings of

anarchism in Spain Anarchism in Spain has historically gained some support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of c ...

in the form of 16 articles that appeared in '' La Revista Social'' between December 27, 1883, and January 15, 1885, with the title ''Del nacimiento de las ideas anárquico-colectivista en España'' ().

Biography

He initially he was a member of the

Federal Democratic Republican Party The Federal Democratic Republican Party (, PRDF) was a Spanish political party founded in 1868 during the Glorious Revolution that was active until 1912. Its ideology was federal republicanism and progressivism. History In 1868, the left-wing ...

and in 1869 he held the position of vice president of the Federal Democratic School in his hometown,

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

. On December 29, 1869, he signed a manifesto to the workers of the Federal Center of the workers' societies of Palma, of which he was also president. Shortly after he joined the

, he was expelled from the Federal Democratic School. Congressof1870

He participated in representation of the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

in the

1870 Barcelona Workers' Congress The 1870 Barcelona Workers' Congress (officially: ''First Spanish Workers' Congress'') was a congress that brought together, from 18 to 26 June 1870, 89 delegates from workers' societies in Barcelona and in which the Spanish Regional Federation ...

from which the

Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA The Spanish Regional Federation of the International Workingmen's Association (), known by its Spanish abbreviation FRE-AIT, was the Spanish chapter of the socialist working class organization commonly known today as the First International. The ...

(FRE-AIT) arose, assuming the anarcho-collectivist theses of

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...

International Alliance of Socialist Democracy The International Alliance of Socialist Democracy was an organisation founded by Mikhail Bakunin along with 79 other members on 28 October 1868, as an organisation within the International Workingmen's Association (IWA). The establishment of the ...

. The following year he spent about four months in prison for some of his articles published in ''La Revolución Social'' against the

king of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

Amadeo I Amadeo I (; 30 May 184518 January 1890), also known as Amadeus, was an Italian prince who reigned as King of Spain from 1870 to 1873. The only king of Spain to come from the House of Savoy, he was the second son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy an ...

. He participated in the Valencia Conference, settling in that city, and in the

Zaragoza Congress The Zaragoza Congress was the Second Congress of the Spanish Regional Federation of the International Workingmen's Association (FRE-AIT). It was held in Zaragoza in April 1872, at the end of the reign of Amadeo I. To prevent it from being suspen ...

, where he was elected to the Federal Council by the Eastern Region. He was re-elected in the Córdoba Congress for which he intervened in the

Petroleum Revolution The Petroleum Revolution (Valencian: ''La Revolució del Petroli'') was a libertarian and syndicalist leaning workers' revolution that took place in Alcoy, Alicante, Spain in 1873. The event derives its name from the petroleum-soaked torches carr ...

Alcoy Alcoy (; ; officially: / ) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 r ...

of July 1873; he was part of the AIT commission that met with the mayor

Agustí Albors Agustí or Agusti may refer to: *The given name ''Agusti'', a variant of Augustine (given name) People with the surname *Jordi Agustí, Spanish paleontologist *Sergi Agustí (born 1967), Spanish film director *Susana Agustí Susana Agustí Req ...

. When the troops were about to enter the city, he left Alcoy to go to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

along with the rest of the Federal Commission, of which he continued to form part during the clandestine period (1874-1881). In 1881 he was elected a member of the Federal Commission of the new

(FTRE), being reelected in the Seville Congress held the following year. There he led, together with

Josep Llunas Josep Llunas i Pujals (30 January 1852–23 May 1905) was a Catalan anarchist, journalist and trade unionist. He joined the Spanish Regional Federation of the International Workingmen's Association (FRE-AIT) in 1872 and, by the 1880s, becam ...

, the opposition to

illegalism Illegalism is a tendency of anarchism that developed primarily in France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland during the late 1890s and early 1900s as an outgrowth of individualist anarchism. Illegalists embrace criminality either openly or secret ...

and

anarcho-communism Anarchist communism is a far-left political ideology and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private real property but retention of personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and se ...

. After leaving the Federal Commission due to the internal crisis experienced by the FTRE as a result of the Mano Negra affair, he began to write in '' La Revista Social'' the series of articles that would form the first history of the beginnings of

, and that would be published in book form in

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

in 1893 with the title ''Del nacimiento de las ideas anárquico-colectivista en España'' (). He also wrote between 1882 and 1884 ''Crónica de los Trabajadores de la Región Española'' (). After the disappearance of the FTRE, he remained faithful to his anarcho-collectivist ideas and in 1900 he was elected president of the Madrid workers' society "El Porvenir del Obrero". He continued to collaborate until his death in 1903 in anarchist publications such as '' Tierra y Libertad''.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomàs Oliver, Francesc 1850 births 1903 deaths People from Palma de Mallorca Spanish anarchists Bricklayers