Miguel García (anarchist)
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Miguel García (1908-1981) was a Spanish anarchist activist, forger, and writer, and was a political prisoner under the regime of Francisco Franco. Born in Barcelona, García worked first as a newspaper seller, then a printer. He was a member of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), the largest anarchist organization in Spain and one of its major trade unions at the time.
He fought in the Anarchist militias and then the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War, and was imprisoned at the war's end. During the Second World War, he was part of a resistance network smuggling Jews, escaping Allied airmen and resistance fighters from France into Spain. His speciality was forgery, having been a printer; he also received training from the British secret service.
After 1945 he was part of the continuing resistance against Franco's regime as part of the "Tallion Group." He was arrested in 1949 and sentenced to death. In 1952 his sentence was commuted to twenty years imprisonment.
In 1969, on his release, he was invited to move to London by Scottish Anarchist Stuart Christie who he had met in prison. He then worked with Christie and Albert Meltzer in the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) working to support Anarchist prisoners, mainly in Spain. He made lecture tours and wrote pamphlets to oppose the Francoist system. In 1972 his autobiography, Franco's prisoner, was published recounting his experiences of resistance and imprisonment.
Miguel García was a significant figure in twentieth century anarchism, not only for his role in the Spanish Anarchist resistance, but for reaching out to and inspiring a new generation of activists.
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[edit] References, further reading
- Christie, Stuart Granny Made Me An Anarchist ISBN 0-7432-5918-1
- Garcia, Miguel Franco's Prisoner ISBN 0-246-640707
- Garcia, Miguel Looking Back After Twenty Years of Jail: Questions and Answers on the Spanish Anarchist Resistance ISBN 1-873605-03-X
- Garcia, Miguel Unknown heroes: biographies of Anarchist resistance fighters ISBN 1-873605-83-8
- Meltzer, Albert (ed.) Miguel Garcia's story ISBN 0-904564-54-5
- Meltzer, Albert I Couldn't Paint Golden Angels: Sixty Years of Commonplace Life and Anarchist Agitation ISBN 1-873176-93-7
