PARES | Spanish Archives

Identification

Type:

Person

Preferred form:

Giral González, Francisco (1911-2002)Other forms

Dates of existence/Biographical dates:

Salamanca 1911-07-06 - Ciudad de México (México) 2002-01-31

History:

Spanish chemist that was exiled. He was born in Salamanca in 1911, son of María Luisa González de la Calle and José Giral Pereira, who was President of the Council of Ministers of the Spanish Republic in 1936, President of the Republic during the exile (1945-1947), pharmacist and exiled in Mexico. Francisco married his cousin Petra Barnés González.

He made his primary and secondary education in the International Institute of Madrid and studied Pharmacy in the University of Madrid. He was an active member of the "Fundacion Universidad Empresa" (FUE). He carried out a postgraduate course in the Universities of Munich and Hidelberg, and made a PhD in the Rockefeller Institute of Madrid. He held a chair in the University of Santiago de Compostela and, later on, the professorship in Inorganic Chemistry in the Pharmacy School of the University of Salamanca.

When the Spanish Civil War started, he joined the Spanish Republican Army and was sent as chemist to a war material factory in Alicante. In 1939, he went to France from the harbor of Alicante and was sent to Argelés concentration camp. Shortly after, he went to Veracruz on board "Flandre" ship. In Mexico, he joined the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the National Polytechnic Institute as teacher. In 1943, he worked in the "Unión de Profesores Universitarios en el Extranjero". Furthermore, he developed his academic activities in "La Casa de España" (currently "Colegio de México") and in the "Instituto de Enfermedades Tropicales". He also worked in the public company PEMEX ("Petróleos Mexicanos") and was counsellor in the UNESCO. He was President of the "Acción Republicana Democrática Española" (ARDE), a political party founded in 1960 by gathering sections of the Republican Left and the Republican Union.

He returned to Spain in 1977 and recovered his professorship in the University of Salamanca. He wrote "Ciencia española en el exilio (1939-1989): el exilio de los científicos españoles" and died in Mexico City in 2002.

Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

Date of the event: 1936 - 1939

Flandre (barco de vapor)

Description: Expedición que llega a Veracruz el 7 de noviembre de 1939

Date of the event: 1939-11-07

Location associated with the date: Veracruz (México)

Occupations

Químicos

Profesores

Professors in Salamanca in 1977

Places

Madrid (España) in 1920

Alicante (España) between 1936 and 1939 Obs.: Actividad durante la Guerra.

Place of arrival:

Veracruz (México) in 1939-07-01

Domicile:

México between 1940 and 1977

Lugar de Nacimiento:

Salamanca in 1911-07-06

Lugar de Defunción:

Ciudad de México (México) in 2002-01-31

Subjects

Is:

Exiles

Sources

. Pla Brugat, Dolores. Catálogo del fondo de historia oral : refugiados españoles en México : Archivo de la Palabra. 1ª ed.. Dolores Pla Brugat (coordinadora). México D.F.: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. 2011. 1 CD-ROM. 978-607-484-184-8.

Giral González, Francisco. Aub, Elena. Proyecto de Historia Oral "Refugiados Españoles en México", Archivo de la Palabra, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), México : entrevista a Francisco Giral. realizada por Elena Aub [para el Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia de México En Colaboración Con el Ministerio de Cultura de España]. [s.L.: S.N.]: 1981]. 2 V..

Giral González, Francisco. Ciencia española en el exilio (1939-1989) : el exilio de los científicos españoles. Francisco Giral. Barcelona: Anthropos. 1994. 396 p.. 84-7658-442-3.

CCBAE: Registro de autoridad de Francisco Giral González