Helios Gómez Rodríguez (1905–1956) was an Andalusian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

anarchist communist Anarchist communism is a Far-left politics, far-left political ideology and Anarchist schools of thought, anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property, private real property but retention ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

. Born into a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

Calé The Romani in Spain, generally known by the Endonym and exonym, endonym ''Calé'', or the Endonym and exonym, exonym (), belong to the Romani people#Romani subgroups, Iberian Romani subgroup known as Calé, with smaller populations in Portugal ...

family, he worked as a painter for the

Spanish anarchist movement 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 cl ...

from an early age. His involvement in the movement forced him to flee Spain, and during his time in Europe he developed his artistic influences and was alerted to the rise of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

. Upon his return to Spain, he joined the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

(PCE), seeing it as the force that was best organised to resist fascism. By the end 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 returned to anarchism, but was forced to flee following the victory of 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 ...

. From the 1940s, when he was imprisoned by the

Francoist dictatorship 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 ...

, he began focusing on his writing and presenting Romani themes through his creative work. His poetry was collected and published posthumously in 2006.

Biography

Helios Gómez was born in 1905, in Triana, a predominantly

neighbourhood of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. From a young age, he worked as a painter and became involved in the

. His occupation as an artist allowed him to be accepted by wider Spanish society, which considered Romani identity to be acceptable only through artistic expression, although

anti-Romani sentiment Anti-Romani sentiment (also called antigypsyism, anti-Romanyism, antiziganism, ziganophobia, or Romaphobia) is an ideology which consists of hostility, prejudice, discrimination, racism, and xenophobia which is specifically directed at Romani ...

would continue to be expressed towards him in press reports. He published his first illustrations for the anarchist writer

Felipe Alaiz Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal. Noteworthy ...

and exhibited his early work at the radical art space Café Kursaal. Due to his activism, in 1927, he was forced to flee Spain. He then travelled throughout much of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

, meeting members of

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

art movements and the labour movement. His time in Europe left an influence on his art style, which drew inspiration from

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

and

futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

. In 1930, he returned to Spain and settled in

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 ...

, where he began working for 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) as a

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

for its newspapers, posters and books. By this time, he had decided to renounce anarchism and join the

(PCE), as he felt the international communist movement was best organised to combat the threat of rising

. He participated in communist rallies, which saw him imprisoned in Barcelona's

Model prison A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided into ...

, and fought in the ranks of the

during the

. Months after the outbreak of the war, he gave an interview with the left magazine '. Introduced by the paper as a "famous Gypsy illustrator and revolutionary artist", he spoke about the anti-fascist cause as a means to overcome anti-Romani sentiment and praised the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for its

social integration Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society. Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions o ...

Romani people in Russia There are around 204,958 Romani people in Russia according to the 2010 national census. In the mid-1920s Romani people in Russia were classified as a national minority of Indian origin and policies in Russia were developed to assimilate them. In ...

. By 1938, he had rejoined the anarchist movement and oversaw the printing layout of the newspaper ''El frente''. When the

launched their

Catalonia Offensive The Catalonia Offensive (, ) was part of the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist Army started the offensive on 23 December 1938 and rapidly conquered Republican-held Catalonia with Barcelona (the Republic's capital city from October 1937). Ba ...

, he fled the country and was subsequently interned in French concentration camps. After the war, when news began to emerge about the

Romani Holocaust The Romani Holocaust was the genocide of European Roma and Sinti people during World War II. Beginning in 1933, Nazi Germany systematically persecuted the European Roma, Sinti and other peoples pejoratively labeled 'Gypsy' through forcible ...

, he began to present himself more openly as a Romani person. He especially began to assert his Romani identity after his imprisonment by the

, when he was forced to paint the chapel in Barcelona's Model prison. Imprisoned from 1945 to 1946 and 1948 to 1954, he began focusing most of his efforts on his literary work. During this period, he wrote: two essays, including one on Romani art; two

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

novels, ''Gabrielillo Vargas, gitano rojo'' and ''Historia de los gitanos''; an autobiographical epic poem titled ''Erika''; and over 100 poems. Romani themes were present throughout his written works of this period, with Spanish artist suggesting that he was motivated to assert his identity in a regime that suppressed the rights of Romani people. In 1956, Helios Gómez died in Barcelona.

Legacy

Helios Gómez is best known for his work as a

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

, which he employed in service of the Spanish labour movement. According to Spanish historians and , Helios Gómez had an indisputably important role in the visual depiction of Spanish workers and anti-fascist themes during the 1930s. Relatively less attention has been paid to his literary work, which he took up from 1942 onwards. His poetry was published posthumously in 2006, as part of the collection ''Poemas de lucha y sueño''. Less has also been written about his political activism. Gómez, along with

Mariano R. Vázquez Mariano Rodríguez Vázquez (1909 – 18 June 1939), popularly known by his nickname ''Marianet'', was a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist politician who served as General Secretary of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) during the Spanish ...

, was cited by Sierra and Profundo as a notable example of Romani participation in the Spanish anarchist movement. Profundo himself said that Gómez's lasting legacies were in his artistic creations and his commitment to social process, as well as how his Romani identity affected each of them. Through the Associació Cultural Helios Gómez, his son Gabriel Gómez has recovered and promoted his works.

Selected works

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References

Bibliography

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External links