Martí Barrera i Maresma (29 May 1889 in La Bisbal del Ampurdán – 26 April 1972 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 ...

) was a Spanish politician, member of the

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia (, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in Valencia, the Balearic Islands and t ...

. He had also been an active member of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), director of the newspaper '' Solidaridad Obrera'' and minister of Labor in 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 ...

. He participated in the

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 ...

movement in the beginning of 20th century, through the CNT. At the time, he was also director of the newspaper ''Solidaridad Obrera''. In 1920 he was arrested and imprisoned in

Mahón Mahón (), officially Maó (, ; formerly spelled ''Mahó''), and also written as Mahon or Port Mahon in English, is the capital and second largest city of Menorca. The city is located on the eastern coast of the island, which is part of the ar ...

, in the

Balearic islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

, along with

Lluís Companys Lluís Companys i Jover (; 21 June 1882 – 15 October 1940) was a Catalan politician who served as president of Catalonia, Spain from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War. Companys was a lawyer close to the labour movement and one of the mo ...

Salvador Seguí Salvador Seguí i Rubinat (23 September 1887, in Lleida – 10 March 1923, in Barcelona), known as ''El noi del sucre'' ("the sugar boy" in Catalan) for his habit of eating the sugar cubes served him with his coffee, was a Catalan anarcho-synd ...

and about thirty other people, for their trade union activities. He stayed in prison until April 1922. His political positions were mostly in line to those of Salvador Seguí, defending the need of trade unionism and political action. These views, along with the assassination of Salvador Seguí by employers' gunmen and the rise of what he considered extremist groups inside the CNT, led him to distance himself from it and from ''Solidaridad obrera''. During the

dictatorship of Primo de Rivera General Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship over Spain began with a coup on 13 September 1923 and ended with his resignation on 28 January 1930. It took place during the wider reign of King Alfonso XIII. In establishing his dictatorship, ...

, he created with others the newspaper ''Typografia Cosmos'' in which addressed issues of the left and the labor movement. Despite having distanced himself from the CNT, he often operated as link between the anarchists and the Catalan state to organize the anti-dictatorship struggle. In 1932 he was elected deputy in the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...

. He held the position of ''Consejero de Trabajo y Obras Públicas'' (''Minister of Labor and Public Works'') of the Generalitat de Catalunya. From his position he tried to prevent outbreaks of violence and conflicts. In 1934 he was imprisoned as an aftermath of the Asturian miners' revolt but later, in the elections of February 1936, he was elected deputy in the

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 ...

and released. After the defeat of the

republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

in 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 was exiled with his family. In 1941, his wife and two daughters returned to Barcelona. He returned in 1950, after receiving authorization but, in 1953, he was sentenced to 12 years and one day in prison, the same as in 1943. He served his sentence under house arrest and with reductions. He had three children: Heribert (who became president of The Parliament of Catalonia after Franco's dictatorship), Angelina and Rosa Maria. He was also a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrera, Martí 1889 births 1972 deaths 20th-century anarchists Anarchists from Catalonia Anarcho-syndicalists People from Baix Empordà Republican Left of Catalonia politicians Spanish anarchists

See also

References