Ángel Pestaña
Ángel Pestaña Nuñez (1886–1937) was a Spanish Anarcho-syndicalist and later Syndicalist leader.
Ángel Pestaña | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary General of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo | |
| In office 1929–1929 | |
| Preceded by | Juan Peiró |
| Succeeded by | Juan López |
| In office 1930 – March 1932 | |
| Preceded by | Progreso Alfarache |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Rivas |
| Secretary General of the Syndicalist Party | |
| In office 1932 – 11 December 1937 | |
| Member of the Congress of Deputies | |
| In office 28 February 1936 – 11 December 1937 | |
| Constituency | Cádiz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ángel Pestaña Núñez 14 February 1886 Ponferrada, León, Spain |
| Died | 11 December 1937 (aged 51) Begues, Barcelona, Spain |
| Citizenship | Spanish |
| Political party | Syndicalist Party |
| Occupation | Syndicalist, Politician |
Life
In April 1919, after Catalonia was shaken by the Canadenca protests, Pestaña was arrested and detained, and the paper banned. He left for Bolshevist Russia in 1920, in order to be present at the 2nd Comintern Congress and the preliminary sessions of the Profintern.[1]
Together with his mentor Salvador Seguí,[2] Pestaña opposed the paramilitary and terrorist actions advocated and carried out by other members of the CNT. In August 1922, he was the victim of an assassination attempt while giving a speech in Manresa, as part of the violent repression measures taken by the Spanish authorities. The indignation caused throughout Spain by news of this act brought the dismissal of several government officials, as well as an end to legislation that permitted the murder of trade union activists.[3]
After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, the conflict between Pestaña's group and FAI deepened: Pestaña initiated the issue of Manifiesto de los Treinta/Manifest dels Trenta ("Manifesto of the Thirty"), a clear condemnation of the Federación's tactics, one which got him expelled from the CNT in August.[4]
Legacy
A homage to Pestaña was made on 13 February 1938 at the Fuencarral Theater in Madrid, in commemoration of his birth. The tribute was attended by speakers of the Syndicalist Party, the Communist Party of Spain, the Popular Front, the Iberian Anarchist Federation, the Republican Left and the National Confederation of Labour.[5]
A square in the Nou Barris district of Barcelona is named Ángel Pestaña in his honour.[6]
References
- Peirats, José (2011). The CNT in the Spanish Revolution, Volume I. Hastings: PM Press. ISBN 978-1-60486-207-2.
- Kaplan, Temma (1993-11-12). Red City, Blue Period: Social Movements in Picasso's Barcelona. Univ of California Press. p. 127. ISBN 9780520084407.
- Carr 2002
- Woodcock 2004, p. 322
- Homenatge a Ángel Pestaña (13 de febrer de 1938) Estelnegre.org (in Catalan)
- Urbanització de la Plaça Ángel Pestaña a Nou Barris Publicespace.org
Sources
- Carr, Raymond (2002). Modern Spain, 1875-1980. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280129-5.
- Peirats, José (2011). The CNT in the Spanish Revolution, Volume I. PM Press. ISBN 978-1-60486-207-2.
- Woodcock, George (2004). Anarchism: A History Of Libertarian Ideas And Movements. Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-629-4.