José Millán Astray

José Millán Astray as a young officer

José Millán-Astray y Terreros (born July 5, 1879 in A Coruña , † January 1, 1954 in Madrid ), called el glorioso mutilado (the glorious disabled) by his followers , was a Spanish military man. Together with Franco he built the Spanish Foreign Legion .

Live and act

Early years

Millán Astray's father was a civil servant lawyer and wanted his son to choose the same profession. Millán Astray volunteered at the Academy of Infantry in Toledo ( Academia de Infantería de Toledo ) at the age of 15 . Because of the colonial wars officers were urgently needed, so that he was appointed lieutenant at the age of 16 . After studying briefly at the General Staff School , he was transferred to the Philippines in 1896 to subjugate a rebellion . There he acted very successfully and was decorated with the highest honor for bravery at the time, the Cruz de María Cristina; a month later he received the Cruz Roja al Mérito Militar and again a month later the Cruz Primera Clase al Mérito Militar and became a national hero. In 1897 he thought about setting up a special unit. This was followed in 1898 by the appointment as first lieutenant and a short stay at the school of the General Staff in Burgos, then the transfer to Burgos and a few other deployments.

On January 12, 1905, Millán Astray was appointed captain . In 1906 he married Elvira Gutiérrez de la Torre, who only announced her intention to remain a virgin after the wedding ; he then maintained a "friendly relationship" with her by his own admission. In the same year he finished his studies at the School of the General Staff. He took part in the definition of the Spanish-French border. On July 3, 1911, he became a teacher at the Academia de Infantería de Toledo in order not to be transferred to the staff service and to remain in the infantry. In 1912 he asked for a transfer to Africa. When Raisuli started an uprising against Spanish rule, Millán Astray fought with great success and became major in 1914.

The Spanish Legion

In 1919 he began working on his project to create a special unit and contacted the Minister of War, General Tovar. He managed to convince them to accept the project after it had been examined. He then traveled to Africa and took part in the fighting again. On January 7, 1920 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and on January 28, 1920, the Tercio de Extranjeros (Foreign Legion) was founded by royal decree. Millán Astray appointed Francisco Franco as his deputy. He led the Legion in the battles against the insurgents and established the ceremonies , symbols and rites that were to give the Legion a special corps spirit . He was then awarded the medalla de sufrimientos por la Patria. On October 26, 1924, a bullet shattered his elbow, so that the arm had to be amputated because of an infection . On March 4, 1926, a bullet hit his cheek and he lost one eye (this is still venerated and shown to the Legion like a relic ); he also broke his jaw and lost a few teeth. It was his fourth wound.

On October 12, 1936, he had a very famous argument in Spain with the poet Miguel de Unamuno . In an escalating panel discussion, he defended the cause of common sense against the accusations of fascists and nationalists . Millán Astray played a rather unimportant role on the part of the nationalists in the Spanish Civil War . Towards the end of the war he was Minister for Press and Propaganda.

In 1941 he fell in love with the ministerial daughter Rita Gasset, made her pregnant and left his wife. Both went to Lisbon fearing Franco's reaction to this scandal. The daughter Peregrina was born there.

death

Astray died in Madrid on January 1, 1954. A street in the Spanish capital was named in his honor, the Calle del General Millan Astray in the Aluche district.

José Millán Astray's grave in the Almudena Cemetery in Madrid.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography of José Millán y Terreros xtec.es (Spanish accessed on March 21, 2011)