Joaquín Maurín Juliá ( Catalan: Joaquim Maurín, 12 January 1896 – 5 November 1973) was a Spanish

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician and activist. The leader of the Workers and Peasants Bloc (BOC) and of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), he was active mainly in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Early life

Born in Bonansa in

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, Maurín engaged in socialist politics from early youth and stood trial on several occasions.

CNT and Profintern

After law studies, he practiced in

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

(Catalonia), where he became affiliated with the

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 ...

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, "National Confederation of Labour"). In 1920, Joaquín Maurín was elected local secretary for the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, as well as the editor of its weekly ''Lucha Social''. In 1921, he represented the movement at the

Profintern The Red International of Labor Unions (, RILU), commonly known as the Profintern (), was an international body established by the Communist International (Comintern) with the aim of coordinating communist activities within trade unions. Formally ...

Congress in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, the capital of

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. Upon his return, he was elected general secretary of the CNT shortly before being arrested and detained in February 1922. After his release, Maurín founded the ''Comités Sindicalistas Revolucionarios'' ("Revolutionary Trade Union Committees") as a

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

group within the CNT. He also gave the committees their own press tribune, ''La Batalla'', in December.

Communist Party of Spain

In 1924, he led his ''La Batalla'' into a merger with 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 ...

and took charge of organising the latter's local wing, the

Catalan-Balearic Communist Federation Catalan-Balear Communist Federation (in Catalan: ''Federació Comunista Catalano-Balear'') was a communist group in Spain. Formed in 1924, it joined the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), and functioned as the PCE federation in Catalonia and the ...

(FCCB). During the crackdown on opposition parties that was ordered by the dictator

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...

, Maurín was arrested and jailed in January 1925. Released in 1927, he opted to leave Spain for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. However, he returned to

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 ...

in 1930 and worked for the reanimation of ''La Batalla'' in the months before the proclamation 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. ...

in early 1931. He became opposed to

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

policies in 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 ...

and took a stand that saw him grouped with the emergent international

Right Opposition The Right Opposition () or Right Tendency () in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was a label formulated by Joseph Stalin in Autumn of 1928 for the opposition against certain measures included within the first five-year plan, an oppos ...

. He split with the Communist Party of Spain and led the FCCB into independent politics. (His wing's place in the Stalinist body was quickly taken over by the

Communist Party of Catalonia Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, ...

BOC and POUM

On 1 March 1931, the FCCB joined with the

Catalan Communist Party Catalan Communist Party () was a political party in Catalonia, Spain. PCC was founded in 1928. It had its origins in ''l'Ateneu Enciclopèdic Popular'', which had been formed in 1926, and in the Marxist sectors of the Catalan separatist movement. ...

and, in 1933, became the Iberian Communist Federation and declared its goal to occupy a place on the national stage. The unified body of the FCCB and the Catalan Communist group became the mass front Workers and Peasants Bloc (BOC), with Maurín as its general secretary. The party was to reach a dominant position in Catalonia. During the riots provoked by the centrist stance of the

Alejandro Lerroux Alejandro Lerroux García (4 March 1864, in La Rambla, Córdoba – 25 June 1949, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party. He served as Prime Minister three times from 1933 to 1935 and held sever ...

government in 1934, Maurín advocated the forming of

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

''Alianzas Obreras'' ("Workers' Alliances") throughout Spain (following a pattern that was proving its force in the

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 ...

). With the indecisive end of the movements, his party opened itself to an alliance with

Andreu Nin Andreu Nin i Pérez (; 4 February 1892 – 20 June 1937) was a Spanish politician, trade unionist and translator. He is mainly known for his role in various Spanish left-wing movements of the early 20th century and, later, for his role in the S ...

’s

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

Communist Left of Spain Communist Left of Spain (, ICE) was a Trotskyist political party during the Second Spanish Republic. Its leader was Andreu Nin, who had been a supporter of the Left Opposition while living in Russia. Although the group was affiliated to the Left ...

. The merger was carried out in September 1935, when the two groups formed the POUM and Maurín elected its general secretary. In line with his views on unified workers' action, the POUM joined the Spanish Popular Front in the runup for the elections of February 1936. Maurín was elected to the

Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

on Popular Front lists.

Capture and exile

With the

Spanish coup of July 1936 The Spanish coup of July 1936( or, among the rebels, ) was a military uprising that was intended to overthrow the Spanish Second Republic, but precipitated the Spanish Civil War, in which Nationalists fought against Republicans for control o ...

and the start 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 ...

, Maurín found himself in Francoist Galicia. Attempting to escape through Aragon, he was captured in

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese language, Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca (province), Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón (river), ...

. His case came up for trial only in 1944, when he was sentenced to 30 years. However, he was detained until October 1, 1946, when he was paroled under an amnesty for some political prisoners, but confined to Madrid where he worked as a translator.Register of the Joaquin Maurin papers
/ref> A witness to both the rise of

Francoist Spain 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 ...

and the crushing of the POUM by

forces, in 1947 he took exile to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with his close family. There he created his own press agency and published his writings. Maurín died in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Notes

External links

Joaquín Maurín
biography by Pedro Bonet y Luis Alonso at th
Fundación Andreu Nin
(in Spanish)
Joaquin Maurin archive
at Stanford University

at

Marxists Internet Archive Marxists Internet Archive, also known as MIA or Marxists.org, is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Enge ...

Joaquín Maurín archive
at

(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Maurin, Joaquin 1896 births 1973 deaths People from Ribagorza Communist Party of Spain politicians Workers and Peasants' Bloc politicians POUM politicians Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic Politicians from Aragon General secretaries of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo Right Opposition Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) 20th-century Spanish journalists