Josep Juan i Domènech (

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 ...

, 1900 – 1979) was a Catalan

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

Biography

Josep was born in Les Corts and lived in

Sants Sants is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Barcelona. It belongs to the district of Sants-Montjuïc and is bordered by the districts of l'Eixample, Eixample to the northeast, Les Corts (district), Les Corts to the northwest, and by the mun ...

. As a

glazier A glazier is a tradesperson responsible for cutting, installing, and removing glass (and materials used as substitutes for glass, such as some plastics).Elizabeth H. Oakes, ''Ferguson Career Resource Guide to Apprenticeship Programs'' ( Infoba ...

, he joined 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), with which he participated as a delegate of the Barcelona Glass Industry Union at the Catalonia conference held on 31 May 1931, as well as at the extraordinary congress in

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 ...

in July 1931, and at the Regional Plenary Session of Single Unions held in Barcelona in March 1933. He became secretary of the CNT's Regional Committee of Catalunya when the civil war began, replacing Dionís Eroles i Batlló. With the entry of the anarchists into the

Lluis Companys Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish language, Spanish form of the originally Germanic language, Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese language, Portuguese and G ...

government during the war, he acted as Minister of the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Govern ...

: of Supplies from 26 September to 17 December 1936, of Public Services from 17 December 1936 to 3 April 1937, of

Economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

, Public Services, Health and Social Assistance from 3 to 16 April 1937 and again of Public Services from 16 April to 5 May 1937. In this last position he had confrontations with

Joan Comorera Joan Comorera i Soler (or Juan Comorera y Soler; 5 September 1894 – 7 May 1958) was a Spanish Communist politician, journalist and writer from Catalonia who spent several years in Argentina before returning to Spain in 1931 at the start of the S ...

who accused the CNT of the situation of subsistence in Barcelona. He left the government with the expulsion of the CNT following the

Barcelona May Days The May Days (, ), sometimes also called May Events (, ), were a series of clashes between 3 and 8 May 1937 during which factions on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War engaged one another in street battles in various parts of Catalon ...

and resumed his duties as secretary of the CNT's Regional Committee (July 1937 – 1939). In April 1938 he unsuccessfully proposed the independence of Catalunya if

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

troops reached the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and signed a pact of unity with the UGT. In 1939 he went into exile in France, where he was interned in the

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

at Vernet and

Djelfa Djelfa () is the capital city of Djelfa Province, Algeria and the site of ancient city and former bishopric Fallaba, which remains a Latin catholic titular see. It has a population of 520622 (2019 census). The city lies at the junction of the N1 ...

, which he left in 1942 after he enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. He aligned himself with the " possibilist" sector of the CNT, in favor of collaborating with the governments of the Spanish Republican government in exile, and was elected General Secretary of the split CNT at the Plenary of the Libertarian Movement in December 1947. After re-entering

Catalunya 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 ...

clandestinely in 1950 he returned to

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, where he participated in the Congresses of the

International Workers' Association International Workers' Association may refer to: * International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at unitin ...

of 1951 and 1954. After the Plenary of

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

in 1960 he returned to the unified CNT, but he was later expelled in the Plenary Session of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in 1969. He returned to

during the

Spanish transition The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

, where he died in 1979.

References

Bibliography

* {{S-end 1900 births 1979 deaths Anarchists from Catalonia Economy ministers of Catalonia Health ministers of Catalonia Politicians from Barcelona

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography