José García Viñas (Málaga, 1848 - Melilla, 1931) was an Andalusian

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 ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, member 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 ...

(FRE-AIT, 1870–1881) and 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 ...

(1869–1872).

Biography

When he was studying medicine 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 ...

, José García Viñas joined the Barcelona nucleus of the

, formed at the beginning of 1869 as a result of the trip of the Italian anarchist Giuseppe Fanelli to Spain. He was one of the delegates of 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 FRE-AIT emerged and participated in the drafting of several opinions. He adopted the anarchist these and joined the

. He was also a delegate to the Córdoba Congress of the FRE-AIT held in late 1872 and early 1873. He was also one of the three representatives of the FRE-AIT at the Geneva Congress of the Anarchist International held in September 1873. After the Congress, he traveled to

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

together with the other two Spanish delegates to visit

. In July 1874, together with Rafael Farga Pellicer, he joined the Federal Commission of the FRE-AIT when it moved from Madrid to Barcelona, at a time when it was operating clandestinely, as the International was banned in January 1874 after the triumph of

Manuel Pavía Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

that put an end to the

First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic (), was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after the abdication of King ...

. From that moment on, García Viñas, according to Josep Termes, “because of the free time he had as he was not a worker e was a doctorand not being tied to a rigorous working day, ended up becoming the axis of the organization and drafting all, or almost all, the projects, reports or resolutions of these years. And for this reason, the documents of the International (in full decomposition, abandoned by the working masses and led by a small sector of the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

) have at this time, of forced secrecy, a so clear insurrectionalist nuance, detachment from union work and confidence in the leading role of the secret and minority group". He also assumed the direction of the newspaper '' La Revista Social'', the organ of the FRE-AIT. In 1876 he translated the Swiss anarchist

James Guillaume James Guillaume (16 February 1844 – 20 November 1916) was a Swiss anarchist and writer who was a leading member of the Jura federation, the anarchist wing of the First International. Later, Guillaume would take an active role in the founding ...

's pamphlets ''Ideas on Social Organization'' and ''Historical Sketches'', of which he wrote the foreword, signing as "D. G. Omblaga, doctor of science." That year he attended the Bern Congress of the Anarchist International as a delegate of the FRE under the pseudonym of "Antonio Sánchez", together with Trinidad Soriano who adopted the name "Francisco Portillo". At the Verviers Congress of the Anarchist International held in August 1877 he attempted to rebuild the Bakuninist "Alliance" together with

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

and

, but the project failed. When Kropotkin visited Barcelona the following year, he was a guest of García Viñas, although he was considered a "

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

". According to

Anselmo Lorenzo Anselmo Lorenzo Asperilla (21 April 1841 – 30 November 1914) was a Spanish anarchist activist and writer. He is known for his leading role in the early stages of the Spanish anarchist movement, for which he became known as "the grandfath ...

, during the clandestine years of the FRE-AIT García Viñas behaved like a

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

of the organization and for this reason he described him as an "

autocratic Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...

anarchist". Guillaume, on his part, considered him "very

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

." When at the end of 1880 the debate on the return to legality of the FRE-AIT was raised in view of the prospect that the new liberal government of

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar (21 July 1825 – 5 January 1903) was a Spanish civil engineer and politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of t ...

would recognize the

right of association Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membe ...

, García Viñas defended

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, as his position was defeated, he left the organization and direction of ''La Revista Social''. According to the historian Juan Avilés Farré, "José García Viñas withdrew from the organization when he considered that a public organization would be counterproductive, because by participating in it, the best militants would make themselves known to the police and would be invalidated for secret action, which he considered the only effective one for revolutionary purposes." Shortly afterwards, he returned to his native Malaga, abandoning anarchist activism. García Viñas himself explained his withdrawal as follows: In 1902, he moved to

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

, where he practiced medicine, becoming director of a relief center and then of a

health center A healthcare center, health center, or community health center is one of a network of clinics staffed by a group of general practitioners and nurses providing healthcare services to people in a certain area. Typical services covered are family pr ...

from 1923 to 1927. He died there in 1931, following 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. ...

Works

*''Breves nociones geográficas de Europa y en particular de España'' (1867)

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:García Viñas, José 1848 births 1931 deaths Anarchists from Andalusia 19th-century Spanish physicians People from Málaga Spanish anarchists Spanish trade unionists