PARES | Spanish Archives

Identification

Type:

Person

Preferred form:

Montseny, Federica (1905-1994)Other forms

Fechas de existencia:

Madrid (España) 1905-02-12 - Toulouse (Alto Garona, Francia) 1994-01-14

History:

Spanish politician, writer, novelist, essayist, journalist, anarchist and feminist. Minister during the Second Spanish Republic, becoming the first woman taking that charge in Spain.

Daughter of the anarchists Joan Montseny and Teresa Mañé. She wrote for "La Revisata Blanca", a magazine founded by her parents, until its disappearance in July 1936. One of the most prominent figures for anarchism and feminism in Spain, as she was a pioneer, as Margarita Nelken or Victoria Kent.

As Minister of Health and Public Assistance (05/11/1936-17/03/1937), she promoted new measures such as the legalization of the abortion, proper lunch places for pregnant ladies, professional activities for those with different abilities, both at cognitive and intellectual level, the inspection of sanitary centers, the creation and renewal of accommodation centers for orphans, and the proper establishment of prostitution. Her oratory abilities spread the voice of Federica Montseny thorughout the crowns, in conferences. She even spoke during the Spanish Civil War in the cinemas Coliseum of Valencia and Barcelona, and in the Teatro Apolo of Valencia (1937). Her partner was the anarchist Germinal Esgleas, with whom she had three children: Vida, Berminal and Blanca.

After the Spanish Civil War, the whole family began its long exile in France. Her mother died there, in Perpignan, soon after they crossed the borders, in February 1939. Once in exile, she stopped writing fiction novels, and began to give her testimony of the war, the exodus to France, the Francoist Spain, and the sorrowful destiny of Spanish exiles. She lived in Paris, where she worked for the SERE (Evacuation Services for Spanish Republicans) in 1940. She was in the refugees camps in the South of France, such as the concentration camps of Gurs, where she became an activist of the Group for Foreign / Spanish Workers (GTE). Later on, the whole family settled in Toulouse, where Federica continued working in the organization of the libertarian movement against the Francoism. By that time, she used to direct and write in the magazines L'Espoir and CNT. After the death of Franco, she continued offering conferences and social gatherings until 1985. She passed away in Toulouse with 88 years old, in 1994.

República Española, 1931-1939

Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

Date of the event: 1936 - 1939