Llibertat Ródenas Rodriguez (1892–1970) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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 ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist.

Biography

Ródenas was the daughter of an

anticlerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

republican, and studied at a secular school. Coming from Chera,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, she moved 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 1918 where she came into contact with 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) and carried out various propaganda campaigns. She was soon noted for her public speaking skills during the years of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1919 she campaigned in Catalonia with Josep Viadiu i Vendrell and Felipe Barjau i Riera, and in Valencia with Eusebi Carbó i Carbó, making known the philosophy and organization of Autonomous Trade Unions. In 1920, after some rallies, she was imprisoned in

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...

for three months, and was imprisoned again in Guadalajara shortly after her release for publicly denouncing the abuses of General

Severiano Martínez Anido Severiano Martínez Anido (21 May 1862 – 24 December 1938) was a Spanish general who served in a number of government posts in Spain during the Primo de Rivera and Francoist dictatorships. He became known for the violent repression of the lab ...

as civil governor in Barcelona. Ródenas, who participated in committees to help prisoners, harshly criticized the '' Ley de Fugas'', which had become a way of eliminating people who were against the regime. Beginning in 1931, she campaigned actively on behalf of the

Federación Anarquista Ibérica The Iberian Anarchist Federation (, FAI) is a Spanish anarchist organization. Due to its close relation with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) anarcho-syndicalist union, it is often abbreviated as CNT-FAI. The FAI publishes the pe ...

(FAI). In 1932, she became the partner of the CNT militant Josep Viadiu, with whom she had three children. When 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 ...

broke out in 1936, she enlisted in the

Durruti Column The Durruti Column (Spanish: ''Columna Durruti''), with about 6,000 people, was the largest anarchist column (or military unit) formed during the Spanish Civil War. During the first months of the war, it became the most recognized and popular mil ...

and went to fight on the

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

front with other volunteers from the CNT and the FAI. There she was responsible for the evacuation of Aragonese children. But after internal conflicts within the republican side, the army became militarized, and one of the first measures taken was to exclude women from the front. Thus, images of militiawomen were eliminated from propaganda posters and in their place appeared images of women dedicated to social assistance tasks, in the rear. This rejection motivated her entry to the Mujeres Libres group, which combined the libertarian struggle with the feminist. Ródenas believed that the destruction of stereotypical gender roles passed through education and actively participated in the tasks of literacy and specialized training of the ''Casal de la Mujer Trabajadora'', where between 600 and 800 women attended classes. In 1939, she went into exile in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, then in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

and finally settled in Mexico from where she was reunited with her young son since, during the war, she had sent her three children to 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 ...

. Her other two children died fighting

nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

in the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...

References

{{Authority control 1892 births 1970 deaths 20th-century anarchists Anarcha-feminists Anarcho-syndicalists Spanish anarchists Spanish feminists Spanish syndicalists