María Rius – Lola Iturbe
The first Anarchist Book Club pamphlet, a translation of Víctor García’s biography of José Xena, is now available. Someone with the initials M. W. sent us the money for a copy but hasn’t provided a postal address – if this is you or someone you know, please get in touch!
In the pamphlet, García notes Xena’s involvement in the freeing of prisoners in Barcelona at the outset of the Spanish Second Republic (April 1931). The source for this information is the section relating to the anarchist militant María Rius in Lola Iturbe, La mujer en la lucha social y en la Guerra civil Española. Nick Heath has written up a short biography of Rius for libcom, the Iturbe piece that follows is more extensive. It is taken from the Barcelona 2003 edition, pp. 67-69. For more information on Iturbe, see Nick Heath’s biography on libcom.
María Rius was born in the village of Arbeca, Lleida, in 1909, into a working-class household. Her parents lacked the funds to provide her with an education, and she began work, aged nine, as an apprentice shirtmaker at a local workshop. Later her family moved to Barcelona. Aged eighteen, she met unionised workers who gave her pamphlets explaining anarchist ideas. Beautiful and intelligent, she quickly became drawn to union struggles and was a member of the administrative committee of the garment workers’ union, holding membership card number one in her branch. Possessed of a dynamic and resolute temperament, she was drawn to radical activity, and became a militant of action. For this reason, María Rius, who held very few formal organisational positions in the CNT, was nevertheless one of the best-known and most well-loved activists in the union and amongst the anarchist affinity groups.
She was very solidaria [given to solidarity], and was constantly visiting prisoners. When jailbreaks were in the offing, as was often the case in those days, she was always called upon, because she was known to be discrete and highly competent. The first jailbreak she got involved in was that of an activist called Jiménez. María supplied the weapon used. The director of the Modelo prison, Luis Ochaita, became aware of the scheme and discovered the common criminal who had acted as an intermediary between María and Jiménez. This man showed his mettle, refusing to give up María’s name despite taking a beating.
On another occasion she collaborated in the attempted escape of Hilario Esteban and Masip. Taking all kinds of risks, she managed to smuggle them ropes and files. The attempt came to nought and Hilario and Masip were beaten up and locked in a punishment cell in the basement.
In 1924 she was arrested. Sancho, an officer in the infamous brigade dedicated to the repression of anarchism, carried out a register of María’s house, finding weapons and explosives. She was sentenced to eight years.
While she was in prison a robbery took place in Tarrasa. José Aracil, Enrique Devesa, Saleta, and another whose name I don’t remember, were accused of the crime. All four were condemned to death and the last two were executed. The military judge who presided over the court martial was the infamous Pérez Garverí, while the defence was provided by the military officials González Fraile and Cabestany.
Aracil and Devesa, who were innocent, were pardoned. María Rius and Ángel Pestaña were responsible for this reprieve. María Rius, when released from prison, provided witness testimony to the court martial that Devesa could not have committed the crime because at the time it took place, he was with her in a highly intimate situation. (Despite the fact that this declaration might have saved Devesa’s life, María’s partner felt offended and left her).
On the morning when Arcil and Devesa were due to be executed, the scaffold was ready and waiting in the patio of the Modelo prison. When offered a final request, the two men asked to eat a paella, and set about it with gusto. Ángel Pestaña, at the time in the same prison, asked to speak in private with the director, who was then moved to contact the civil governor. The nature of this conversation has remained a secret, but what is certain is that same morning Aracil and Devesa were pardoned, just moments before they were due to be executed. The governor Milans del Bosch and the captain general Barrera asked King Alfonso XIII for the reprieve.
Later, María was again involved in Masip attempting to escape, while she also assisted Julia Compte and Alcodorí in their attempted breakouts. Masip and Alcodorí both managed to get out, but were arrested in the street. With the escape network discovered, María crossed the border into France.
When the dictator Primo de Rivera fell from power, she returned to Spain. There she joined the Women’s Amnesty Committee in Barcelona, which carried out a massive campaign to free political prisoners.
On 14 April 1931, the day the Second Republic was proclaimed, María Rius was in a sizeable crowd of women that stormed the women’s prison on carrer Amalia. As she knew the place well, María took the lead in freeing the prisoners and burning the archives. Helios Gómez, the wonderful Andalucian illustrator, was inside the prison breaking down doors and then on the roof, hoisting the red and black flag.
Having freed the prisoners, the crowd marched in a demonstration to the town hall. At Atarazanas they encountered another demonstration, this one headed by Antonio Ordaz and José Xena. A few hours later, together with the activists Monforte, Hernández, and Sanmartín, representing the Local Federation of CNT unions, they headed to the Generalitat to demand of President Maciá the freeing of the prisoners in the Modelo and in Figueras. They came to an agreement and the delegates went on to Figueras to liberate the prisoners. Amongst the many set free were Devesa, Oró, González, España, Pons, Villacampa, Francés, Climent, and Marcelino Gimeno, who was shot in Zaragoza at the outset of the civil war.
When the former prisoners arrived in Barcelona, they were met by a crowd waving flags who received them with joy. They proceeded in a demonstration to the Generalitat, where they were greeted by Companys and Maciá, who welcomed them on behalf of himself and the people of Cataluña.
On 19 July 1936, María Rius took part in the struggle like every other anarchist. In March 1937, she joined the Hilario-Zamora column, stationed in Vástago. There she set up a workshop producing uniforms for the combatants. She took part in the taking of Quinto and Monte Carnero.
After the war she entered France as a refugee. She kept to her family circle, and her strong personality faded in the long night of exile.