Juan Simeón Vidarte Franco-Romero ( Llerena, 8 May 1902 -

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, 29 October 1976) was a Spanish lawyer and socialist politician. He was deputy secretary general of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

( - PSOE) between 1932 and 1939, and secretary of the Congress of Deputies during the first legislature 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. ...

(1931–1933). After 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 went into exile in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Biography

He studied law at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

, where he joined the

Socialist Youth of Spain Socialist Youth of Spain () is the youth organisation of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in Spain. Headquartered in Madrid, the organization was founded in 1906 and is aligned internationally with the Young European Socialists and the ...

() the youth organisation of the PSOE. He was a member of its executive committee in 1929-1930 and deputy secretary from February 1932 to April 1934. He joined the Madrid Socialist Group () of the PSOE in 1930 and was deputy secretary of its Executive Committee from October 1932 to April 1939. He was a member of parliament for

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

in the three elections (

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

) held during the Second Republic, a period in which he was very active in parliament. During the Civil War, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the PSOE, which was already totally controlled by the centrist faction, as well as a personal friend of both

Indalecio Prieto Indalecio Prieto Tuero (30 April 1883 – 11 February 1962) was a Spanish politician, a minister and one of the leading figures of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the years before and during the Second Spanish Republic. Less radi ...

and

Juan Negrín Juan Negrín López (; 3 February 1892 – 12 November 1956) was a Spanish physician and politician who served as prime minister of the Second Spanish Republic. He was a leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (, PSOE) and of the le ...

, he had governmental responsibilities from the formation of

Francisco Largo Caballero Francisco Largo Caballero (15 October 1869 – 23 March 1946) was a Spanish politician and trade unionist who served as the prime minister of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. He was one of the historic leaders of the ...

's first government in September 1936. After the appointment of Negrín as Minister of Finance, he was part of his cabinet as head of special missions to foreign banks, and, for instance, extra-official confidential missions to procure arms for the Republic despite the embargo imposed by the Non-Intervention Agreement. When Negrín became Prime Minister, Vidarte became undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior under

Julián Zugazagoitia Julián Zugazagoitia Mendieta (5 February 1899, Bilbao – 9 November 1940, Madrid) was a Spanish journalist and politician. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, he was close to Indalecio Prieto and the editor of the ''El Socialista ...

. In September 1937 Negrín entrusted Vidarte with a very confidential mission, so delicate that even President

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the la ...

was unaware of it. As minister plenipotentiary of the Republican Government, he went to Mexico, the only country openly in favour of the Republican cause, to ask President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

for permission to take in a large number of Republican exiles if necessary, and obtained a commitment from the president that, in such an eventuality, the Mexican government would be willing to accept the refugees who would "find in Mexico their second homeland". The PSOE expelled Vidarte and a number of additional party members, such as Negrín, through a note published in '' El Socialista'' on 23 April 1946. (He was post-humously rehabilitated by the PSOE in 2008.) Exiled in Mexico and cut off from socialist organisations, he devoted himself to various commercial and academic activities and to writing his memoirs. He died in Mexico City on 29 August 1976.

Publications

* ''Tempestad en África. De Gaulle contra Petain'', México, 1941 * ''Ante la tumba de Lázaro Cárdenas'', México, 1971 * ''Todos fuimos culpables. Testimonio de un socialista español'', México, 1973. (Subsequent edition in Spain, Barcelona, Grijalbo, 1978) * ''Las Cortes constituyentes de 1931-1933'', Barcelona, Grijalbo, 1976 * ''No queríamos al Rey: testimonio de un socialista español'', Barcelona, 1977 * ''El bienio negro y la insurrección de Asturias: testimonio'', Barcelona, 1978 * Prólogo del libro de Ramón Martínez Zaldua, ''Historia de la Masonería en Hispanoamérica ¿Es o no Religión la Masonería?'', Costa Amic Editor, 1968.

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Biography

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