Francisco de Paula Oller Simón (1860–1940) 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 ...

and

Argentinean Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

publisher. Politically he supported the

Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...

cause. He is known mostly as owner, manager and the moving spirit behind numerous Traditionalist periodicals, mostly '' El Legitimista Español'' (1898–1912) and ''España'' (1915–1929), both published in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. In Spain he briefly issued some Carlist

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-based periodicals in 1889–1892; during this period he managed a publishing house Biblioteca Tradicionalista and published numerous propagandistic books, booklets and brochures. In 1898-1912 he was the chief Carlist representative for South America.

Family and youth

The Oller surname, possibly of French origin, was first noted in Spain in Catalan records from the 11th century; however, there is close to nothing known about Oller's distant ancestors. His paternal grandparents were Manuel Oller from Barcelona and Rosa Pallarol from San Vicente dels Horts, yet their social position remains unclear; according to their grandson, they formed a “modest family”. Their son and the father of Francisco, Manuel Oller Pallarol (1810–1888), reportedly followed somewhat chaotic secondary education curriculum and ascended to middle strata, though it is not certain what he was doing for a living. In parish books he was recorded as “propietario” and apparently he had enough financial means to engage in legitimist and Catholic propaganda and charity; fearing his economic contribution to the Carlist war effort, during the

Third Carlist War The Third Carlist War (), which occurred from 1872 to 1876, was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier Second Carlist War, "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relative ...

the government embargoed his property. At unspecified date Manuel married Concepción Simón Ramonich (1824–1883), also from Barcelona. It is not clear how many children Manuel and Concepción had and whether Francisco had any siblings. The family was fervently religious and he was brought up accordingly. He inherited also the Carlist zeal; following outbreak of the Third Carlist War he twice escaped from home trying to enlist in legitimist troops, but failed. The third attempt was successful, and in 1874, as a 14-year-old, he was able to “change my college cap for a Carlist beret”. Francisco's war lasted barely a year; serving in 4. Batallón de Lérida under Ceferino Escola, he took part in defense of

Seo de Urgel La Seu d'Urgell (; , formerly ''Urgell'') is a town located in Alt Urgell county in Alt Pirineu, Catalonia, Spain. The town is also the head of its judicial district and the seat of the Bishop of Urgell, one of the co-princes of Andorra. It is t ...

and was taken prisoner there, according to his own account in the rank of

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. Back in Barcelona he returned to school and some time in the late 1870s he obtained

bachillerato The Spanish Baccalaureate (, ) is the post-16 stage of education in Spain, comparable to the A Levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Highers in Scotland, the French Baccalaureate in France or the International Baccalaureate. It follows t ...

in the local Escuelas Pías. In 1880 he was due to perform military service, evaded by means of regular substitution payment of 2.000 pesetas.

In 1881 in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.present-day historian maintains he assumed management somewhat later. Francisco and Carmen lived in Barcelona. It is not clear how many children they had, but there is only one known, Concepción Oller Anguis, born in the late 1880s. She would later marry in Buenos Aires; Oller had one granddaughter, Concepción Amoedo Oller, an Argentinean citizen.

Spain (1883-1892)

Except an unsuccessful 1886 attempt to run for Diputación Provincial of Barcelona, Oller focused on propaganda. Apart from a theatrical drama ''Combates del corazón'' (1884) he wrote ''La España Carlista'' (1885), a set of essays revolving around the Third Carlist War and largely formatted as polemics with Antonio Pirala. He also wrote few prologues and one translation from French. In 1887 he assumed management of ''Lo Crit de la Patria'' and steered it as a vehement Carlist propaganda vehicle, publishing venomous diatribes against the Madrid governments. However, in 1888 he faced a conflict within Traditionalist ranks, caused by secession of Nocedal-led faction named Integrists. Quintana assumed ambiguous stand, and Oller suspended his collaboration having declared that “l’estat de la lluyta actual dins lo partit carlista” makes him re-consider. Eventually, when ''Lo Crit de la Patria'' sided with the rebels, Oller opted for total loyalty to his king and left the periodical. Though no longer behind the steering wheel of ''Lo Crit'', in 1888 Oller was subject to legal investigation related to articles, published earlier during his tenure. Apart from open exaltation of Carlos de Borbón as the king, he was also charged with barely veiled reference to the prime minister

Sagasta Sagasta is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * José Manuel Sagasta (1912–?), Argentine equestrian * Josefina Pelliza de Sagasta (1848–1888), Argentine poet, journalist, and writer * Julio César Sagasta (1914–?), Argentin ...

as “canalla”. The matter was examined in various courts, and following numerous appeals he got two sentences for the total of 7 months of incarceration and the fine of 4.000 pesetas; he spend the period between June 1888 and January 1889 behind bars. Once set free he was immediately invited by the claimant to

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, where he spent some time later that year; he declared himself “un enamorado de la figura política del Rey Carlos VII”. In 1889 Oller founded a Barcelona-based publishing house, Biblioteca Tradicionalista (BT). In 1889 BT launched two periodicals. A weekly ''Lo Crit d’Espanya'' was sort of continuation of ''Lo Crit de la Patria'' and assumed similar, belligerent stand; a monthly ''El Estandarte Real'' was formatted as “revista politico-militar ilustrada”, mostly dedicated to Carlist heroic past. In 1891 BT started to publish a third periodical, a satirical irregular ''La Carcajada''. All featured high graphical standards, ensured by artistic management of Paciano Ross. BT published also portraits of Carlos VII and his family members; some as large as 58x83 cm, they were decorating walls of Carlist circulos. Francisco Oller Simon 05

In 1889–1892 as part of Carlist propaganda machinery BT published some 20 books, booklets and brochures; they included ideological treaties, historiography, poetry, military manuals and other by various authors, including Ramiro Fernandez Valbuena, Joaquin Llorens, Modesto Hernandez Villaescusa, José de Liñan and Reynaldo Brea. Oller's flagship product, however, was ''Album de personajes carlistas'', a 600-page set of 75 biographies he has written himself, again illustrated by Ross. First two volumes, published in 1887–1888, were released by Quintana; Oller purchased publishing rights and in 1890 BT issued the third volume. Highly apologetic and at times missing substance, until today the publication remains a valuable historiographic source.

Financial disaster

Biblioteca Tradicionalista was a broadly-scaled publishing house, which for a few years kept issuing 3 periodicals and tens of books. However, its commercial performance was at best moderate. At the time there were 3 somewhat competitive Carlist publishing houses in Barcelona, the other two having been La Hormiga de Oro ( Luis Llauder) and La Biblioteca Regional (Josep Font Fargas, Joan M. Roma). Circulation of BT-issued periodicals was between 500 and 2000 copies, barely sufficient to render the exercise economically viable. Even though the company tried various activities – e.g. Oller was Spanish representative of

Rafael Díez de la Cortina Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California Fiction * ''Rafael'' (TV series), a Mexican telenovela * ''Rafaël'' (film), a 2018 Dutch film People * Rafael (footballer, born 1978) ( ...

and his Cortina Method of learning foreign languages - it was barely making profit. According to Oller, his problems were aggravated by other factors. He allegedly made some business decisions when trusting in promises of support and financial engagement on part of various individuals, the assistance which has never materialized; some claimed that he was “abandonado por los suyos, sin ayuda ni auxilio”. Oller referred also hostile official administrative measures, including censorship interventions and heavy fines; the 4.000 ptas fine administered against him was equal to annual salary of a junior university professor. In 1891 the claimant Carlos VII prohibited opening one more Carlist periodical in Barcelona; the intention was to spare competition to Oller. Oller later confessed that he spent almost all inheritance from his late father to sustain the business, but the money have eventually run out. What happened later is not exactly clear; in 1892 either the business went bust or he sold it at a very low price. The younger brother of the claimant, Alfonso Carlos, offered 2.000 ptas from his own money, but it was too little too late. Ship Perseo

Closure of BT was passed over in silence by the Carlist press, though the republican one cheered its demise, especially that all 3 periodicals issued by BT ceased to appear. Having learnt that he intended to leave for America, the republicans ridiculed Oller. In 1892 he sold most of his belongings, though it is not clear how the money has been spent, as he later declared having left Spain with merely 2

pounds sterling Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (cu ...

of his entire capital. Neither any source clarifies why he decided to launch a new life overseas and not in Spain, and in particular whether he was fleeing unpaid debts. In October 1892 Oller, his wife and his daughter boarded an Italian liner Perseo and departed for Argentina; 3 weeks later they arrived in Buenos Aires. Apart from the small capital mentioned, he was carrying some memorabilia from the wartime past, including a Remington rifle, a sabre, a spade and a red beret.

Argentina: early years (1892-1908)

Shortly after arrival in Buenos Aires Oller found an office job in Casa de Comercio, which he would hold for 16 years to come. According to his own account most of the 1890s was a difficult time; thought not in poverty, he had to work hard, especially that his wife was under constant medical treatment. However, he found some time to pursue interest in letters; in 1896 his historiographic booklet ''España en el mundo'' earned him primer premio de prosa in Juegos Florales del Centro Unión Obrera Española, and in 1897 he published ''Certamen Franciscano Literario y Artístico'', follow-up of cultural event organized by the local

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

. Francisco Melgar, the secretary of the claimant, in epistolographic exchange encouraged Oller to resume propagandistic activities; the 1898 personal letter from Carlos VII was written to the same purpose; also, the claimant nominated Oller his representative in Southern America. Oller set up Comisión Central de Propaganda Carlista en la América del Sud; its branches appeared in Uruguay,

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. In 1898 Oller launched ''El Legitimista Español'', initially a bi-weekly and then a monthly; 174 issues would be published until its closure in 1912. Usually a 4-page print, at times it went out in 8, 10 or even more pages. Its director was Luis Mas Nadal, the son of former Oller's commander from the Third Carlist War, yet historians agree that it was Oller who remained the ''spiritus movens'' of the periodical; he formally assumed directorship in 1908. ''El Legitimista'' was welcome enthusiastically by the Carlist community; the infant Don Jaime sent greetings from his garrison in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Oller envisioned a grand scheme, with offices in every South American capital; eventually ''El Legitimista'' remained a local Buenos Aires paper, with 300 subscribers and sales of some 2.500 copies. The weekly adhered to orthodox Carlist line, which gained him hostility of another Spanish bonaerense periodical, ''El Correo Español''. The latter represented the “el adentro”, Argentina-focused perspective; ''El Legitmista'' was rather “del afuera”, with much attention to Spain. At some point in the early 1900s Oller either founded or co-founded Centro de Publicidad Universal Lux, a Buenos-Aires-based publishing house which took over issuing of ''El Legitimista''. It briefly published also ''La Hispano-Argentina'', an ambitious cultural review with tuned town Carlist tone and formatted rather as a generic Catholic periodical. Centro de Publicidad Universal became a fairly successful enterprise. Its offices, just like premises of ''El Legitimista'', were moved to

Avenida Belgrano Avenida Belgrano is an avenue that runs through Montserrat, Balvanera and Almagro neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The avenue crosses other major avenues like Huergo, Paseo Colon, Diagonal Sur and 9 de Julio. The avenue was named i ...

1658, an excellent point in the Buenos Aires financial quarter. They hosted a store, which apart from books and press sold tobacco, perfumes, pharmaceuticals and other ware. The spacious Belgrano office was also accommodating numerous social events co-organized by Oller, like conferences, banquets, lectures, celebrations of Carlist feasts etc., at times gathering as much as 200 participants.

Argentina: climax and crisis (1908-1912)

The turn of decades marked a climax in Oller's Argentinean career. Centro Universal became a recognized institution. He emerged as a personality in right-wing Spanish circles of Buenos Aires, receiving homages by organisations like Juventud Carlista and Juventud Católica; he became the president of the latter. He opened a bookstore named La Enciclopedia. In 1907 jointly with F. Rainieri he published ''Manual práctico de cálculos mercantiles'', result of his practice in Casa de Comercio and studies at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

, which he pursued at times as regular and at times as free student. He specialized in

commercial law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of Legal person, persons and organizations ...

; his academic career was crowned in 1908, when Oller graduated at Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Sociales thanks to a dissertation ''Libros de comercio'', promoted by Silvestre H. Blousson. Since then he advertised in the press as “Francisco P. de Oller. Abogado”. In 1908 Oller set up a company, Empresa Edificadora Villa Loredán SA. Its objective was to build an entirely new settlement, Villa Loredán; the name was taken from the residence of Carlos VII in Venice. It was supposed to be a Carlist-only place, with streets named after Carlist heroes. In 1909 the statute and board membership were published; Oller became presidente interino. Financial details are highly unclear; except possible link to Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires, there were no large companies involved and capital was to be raised by sales of shares. However, in late 1909 and quoting “obstáculos imprevistos e insalvables”, the company was dissolved. The project was scaled down. In 1910 ''El Legimista'' was advertising plots in

Villa España A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fal ...

, a future settlement in

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the southeast end of the Greater Buenos Aires, being some away from the urban centre area of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and is the seat of the eponymous '' ...

, half-way between Buenos Aires and

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; the intention was to build residential estates, named Villa Loredán, Villa Jaime III, etc. None of them has been constructed; the only remnant of the project was a street named "calle Carlos VII". In 1961, when the Berazategui borough separated from Quilmes, all street names were changed, and "calle Carlos VII" became "calle 152". Flag of Cross of Burgundy

Following failed construction project another blow came in 1912. Its dynamics is unclear. Oller's bookstore La Enciclopedia re-arranged its display windows as sort of Carlist exhibition, with books, portraits, decorations and other memorabilia, some from his private collection. This triggered protests by members of the bonaerense Spanish community, with reportedly “thousands of people” involved; some of them were getting violent with risk of the bookstore being vandalized. It is unclear whether the official administration or police demanded removal of the exhibition, but this is what has occurred shortly. Afterwards ''El Legitimista'' printed an editorial note; it claimed that because of “recent events” and with the intention to prevent damages “to legitimist cause in America”, the board decided to suspend publication of the weekly. Present day historian when referring the story chooses not to offer any speculations, except that Oller's law practice might have been at stake. He soon moved his law office to another, more peripheral location. Also, in 1912 Oller resigned as Don Jaime's representative for South America.

Argentina: late years (1912-1940)

After 1912 Oller for 3 years was not managing any periodical. However, he set his eyes on ''España'', a review launched 4 years earlier by a group of Spanish migrants and struggling. In 1915 and in unclear circumstances he took it over and re-branded as “revista patriótica española”. According to a historian the periodical did not assume an openly Carlist format, posing rather as a paper of Spaniards in South America, yet to some readers it was sort of continuation of ''El Legitimista'', but with more pages and more adverts. Though its office was at a peripheral calle Azul 248, the monthly would remain on the market for 14 years. For some time, during the

First World War 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 ...

, it adopted a sub-title of “Revista hispano-germanófila”, a clear mark of Oller's support for the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

and his anti-British stand. Very briefly in 1917 he managed to resurrect ''El Legitimista'', this time as “periódico Jaimista”; only 5 issues appeared and the title was discontinued with a declaration that “political circumstances which justified its re-appearance have ceased”. In 1918 Oller was granted the Argentinean citizenship; it was not required of an ''abogado'', but remained a must in case of a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

, which might not have been irrelevant for the 58-year-old. It is known he visited Spain, though unclear when. He also maintained epistolographic exchange with numerous Spanish correspondents. It was particularly cordial when writing with Jaime de Orbe, barón de Montevilla, from the iconic Carlist Valde-Espina family; in his last will, Oller decided Orbe would take over his Carlism-related heritage. In the mid-1920s Orbe started subscriptions for a luxurious homage book, which materialized in 1928; Oller was very moved upon receiving it. At the time he was already suffering from poor health and unspecified family problems, perhaps related to death of his son-in-law and his daughter remaining on her own; he quoted above reasons when closing ''España'' in 1929. However, as an insatiable publisher in 1931 he launched ''Monarquía Española'', an irregular political-literary review; it closed in 1932. 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 ...

Oller clearly sided with 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 ...

. However, his focus was on their Traditionalist component, and he made some last propaganda efforts, intended to sustain the Carlist cause. He published 2 brochures, largely excerpts from his 1928 homage book, ''Dios-Patria-Rey. Laureles a Un Carlista'' (1936) and ''Dios-Patria-Rey. Más Laureles a Un Carlista'' (1937). In 1938 he launched ''Boletín Tradicionalista'', published until after his death, and another one, titled ''El Requeté'', which appeared briefly. Oller rejected the francisco Franco, Franco-imposed Unification Decree (Spain, 1937), unification decree and kept underlying the Carlist identity of “soldados de la Fe, Cruzados de Cristo”; in return, the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS, Falange Española Tradicionalista Secretaría General ordered its foreign section to monitor Oller as a suspicious individual. In 1939 he attended the Buenos Aires celebrations of the Carlist :es:Fiesta de los Mártires de la Tradición, Mártires de la Tradición ceremony, with an empty seat reserved for representative of the Spanish government.at the time delegado of Comunión Tradicionalista in Argentina, nominated by Don Javier, was Demetrio Climent, Canal 2024, p. 380

Footnotes

External links

''Album de personajes carlistas'' at Reino de Granada/Wayback Machine service

''Lo Crit d'Espanya'' at BVPH service

''El Estandarde real'' at BVPH service

''La Carcajada'' at BME service

''El Requete'' at BVPH service

references to "calle Carlos VII" at calle 152, Berazategui, at ''GoogleMaps'' service
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oller Simón, Francisco Argentine newspaper editors Spanish anti-communist propagandists 19th-century Argentine businesspeople 20th-century Argentine businesspeople 20th-century Argentine historians 19th-century Argentine journalists 20th-century Argentine journalists 20th-century Argentine lawyers Businesspeople from Barcelona Businesspeople from Buenos Aires Carlists Child soldiers Historians of Carlism Imprisoned journalists Journalists from Catalonia 19th-century newspaper publishers (people) 20th-century newspaper publishers (people) 19th-century Spanish businesspeople 20th-century Spanish businesspeople 19th-century Spanish journalists 20th-century Spanish journalists Spanish newspaper editors 19th-century newspaper founders 20th-century newspaper founders Lawyers from Barcelona Spanish male essayists Real estate and property developers Roman Catholic activists Soldiers from Catalonia Spanish anti-communists 19th-century Spanish criminals Spanish dramatists and playwrights Spanish emigrants to Argentina Spanish essayists 20th-century Spanish historians 20th-century Spanish lawyers Spanish male writers Spanish military personnel of the Third Carlist War (Legitimist faction) Spanish monarchists Spanish prisoners and detainees Spanish propagandists Spanish publishers (people) Spanish Roman Catholic writers University of Buenos Aires alumni