Blas Infante

Blas Infante Pérez de Vargas (born July 5, 1885 in Casares ; † August 11, 1936 in Seville , shot dead) was a Spanish politician from Andalusia , writer, historian and musicologist. Because of his commitment to the autonomy of Andalusia, he is named in the preamble to the Andalusian Statute of Autonomy of 1983 Padre de la Patria Andaluza , father of the Andalusian homeland.

Life

Blas Infante was the son of Luis Andrade, secretary at the court of Casares, and his wife Ginesa Perez de Vargas. He attended school in Archidona until he graduated with the Bachillerato exam in 1899. In the wake of the crisis caused by the economic crisis of 1898, when Spain lost its colonies in America and the Philippines as a result of the Spanish-American War , the family fell into economic difficulties, and Blas had to give up the university first. From 1900 he worked like his father as a court secretary at the court of Casares, but also studied law at the University of Granada. In 1906 he passed his law exam there.

From 1910 he worked as a notary in Cantillana, where he came into contact with a scene of politically interested intellectuals. Here his ideas for an independent Andalusia came about. The harsh conditions under which the local farm workers had to suffer led him to occupy himself with socialist ideas. He published his theses in articles for the magazine Betica and in the book Ideal Andaluz , published in 1914 .

In 1916 he became president of the Centro Andaluz de Sevilla , where he published the newspaper Andalucía . In 1920 he founded the magazine Avante and published his book Motamid. Ultimo Rey di Seville . In 1923 the Andalusian Center was banned by the Primo de Rivera government. Blas moved to Isla Cristina , where he opened a notary's office.

In 1931 he founded a party in Seville, the Junta Liberalista de Andalucía . After the elections in February 1936, the Andalusian Movement intensified its efforts to obtain a statute of autonomy for Andalusia. Blas Infante was elected President of the new National Assembly and the Andalusian flag was hoisted on Seville City Hall.

In August 1936, members of the Falange stormed Blas Infante's home in Coria del Rio and captured him. He and two other prisoners were shot dead on the road between Seville and Carmona on August 11, without prior hearing . Today a memorial marks the place of execution.

Blas Infante Museum

Museo Blas Infante in Coria del Río

In 2001 the Fundación Centro de Estudios Andaluces de la Junta de Andalucía acquired the residential building that Blas Infante had built in Coria del Río in 1936 in a style based on Moorish-Andalusian architecture. The foundation set up a museum and research center for the culture of Andalusia there.

Fonts (selection)

Ideal Andaluz . Fundación Blas Infante, 1982; First edition: 1915, Sevilla, Arévalo, 1915. Second edition. Madrid, Tucar, 1976 (incomplete);
La Sociedad de Naciones y el Ideal Andaluz . Seville, Avante, 1919
Mutamid. Último Rey de Sevilla . 1921, Fundación Blas Infante; 1983
La Dictadura Pedagógica . Un proyecto de Revolución cultural. Fundación Blas Infante. Seville, 1989. ISBN 84-86814-50-2 .
Reelección Fundamental Vol. 1 .: La Religión y la Moral, Seville, Avante, 1921
Orígenes de lo flamenco and secreto del cante jondo . Seville, Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía, 1980. ISBN 84-500-3524-4 .
Andalucía desconocida . Seville, Junta Liberalista de Andalucía (1932), edited by A. Llorca Fernández. 1980
La verdad sobre el complot de Tablada y el Estado libre de Andalucía . Aljibe, Granada 1979;
Andalucía. Teoría y Fundamento Político. Almuzara, Córdoba 2008, ISBN 978-84-96968-17-2 .

literature

Benedikt Kofler: Blas Infante and the Andalusian ideal. Regionalism, nationalism and utopia in Andalusia (1885–1936) . Vienna 2008, (Diploma thesis (Master's thesis) University of Vienna, Political Science, 2008, 215 pages, supervisor: Birgit Sauer, full text PDF; free of charge, 215 pages, 1.6 MB).

Individual evidence

Web links

Commons : Blas Infante - collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Infante, Blas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Infante Pérez de Vargas, Blas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Spanish politician, lawyer and writer
DATE OF BIRTH	July 5, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH	Casares
DATE OF DEATH	August 11, 1936
Place of death	Seville

[1] Kofler 2008. p. 7.

[2] Report in publico.es

[3] Museo Blas Infante