Claudio López Bru
Encyclopedia
Claudio Lopez Bru, segundo Marques de Comillas (Catalan
: Claudi López i Bru, segòn Marquès de Comillas) and Grandee
of Spain (Barcelona
, 1853 - Madrid
, 1925), was a Catalan
businessman , an immensely rich shipping magnate and landowner.
A Catholic, he was determined, according to a writer on the Spanish Catholic world, Frances Lannon
, 'to keep his employees pious and out of radical unions.' He was a dominating influence in the National Council of Catholic Worker Corporations CNCCO, a kind of industrial branch of Catholic Action
. A reactionary
he was criticized by the Asturian
priest Maximiliano Arboleya Martínez who commented that : " The workers in our Circles are talked to about religion, about morality, about resignation, about their obligations - it is almost never that anyone talks to them about the injustices, about the obligations of the capitalists..."
For thirty years, (1895-1925), Comillas dominated Catholic policy-making on labour relations.
Claudio Lopez Bru was the fourth son of the founder and owner of Compañía Transatlántica Española
, Antonio López y López (1817–1883), and Catalan lady Lluïsa Bru i Lassús.
He studied law at Barcelona University (Universitat de Barcelona). In 1883, following his father's death, he inherited the title "Marquis of Comillas
". Barely in his thirties, he ran all the companies his father had started, foremost of which were Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas and Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España. In the following years, Claudio himself would expand his father's estate, with coal company Hullera Española, Banca López Bru, Constructora Naval and Banco Vitalicio.
He promoted the Pontifical Seminary of Comillas
(Cantabria
). The first building was inaugurated in 1890 and through a decree of the Vatican
, it became the Pontifical University of Comillas
In 1893 vessel Cabo Machichaco, a ship not belonging to Claudio's CTE shipping line, exploded at the harbor in Santander
. The explosion was of such magnitude that a thick mooring cable from the ship hit Peñacastillo, 8 km away, killing a person. Santander harbor was destroyed and the death toll reached 500.
As soon as he got the news, Claudio went to the spot and sent a train from Barcelona with doctors, nurses, firemen and medical equipment in order to treat the thousands of wounded.
After this action, Claudio consistently refused any attempt by the authorities to honor and reward him, stating simply that he had done merely his duty as a Christian.
He acted similarly after the 1908 Messina earthquake
that devastated this Italian town, causing tens of thousands of deaths. Claudio had his ship, the "Cataluña", one of his CTE vessels, transformed into a hospital and sent it rushing to the place.
Comillas was a dominant figure in determining Catholic policy on labour relations. A workers section of Catholic Action was set up under his influence in 1894, followed in 1919 by a women's, and in 1924 by a youth section. They were firmly under hierarchical and magnate control, 'associations of leaders with few followers.' The most characteristic efflorescences of Catholic Action at this time were words and gestures rather than purposeful organisations, - congresses and processions rather than flourishing workers' associations. Comillas financed spectacular pilgrimages for working men to shrines in Spain and abroad. And, impressed by the Catholic Railwayman's syndicate , led by Agustin Ruiz, and its performance in oppposing the railway strike of July 1916 and the general strike of August 1917, tried hard to create an accompanying web of Catholic miners syndicates, especially in the militant Asturian pits, where he himself owned pits. Comillas was also influential in the Popular Social Action (ASP) initiative, founded by a Jesuit priest, Gabriel Palau in 1907 in Barcelona
. Palau wanted to make Barcelona the centre of a national network of social Catholic initiatives. It attracted bourgeois Catholics, and its financial needs were largely met by Comillas. The syndicates that became associated with the ASP were called Professional Unions. "A recent study has emphasised their paternalism - at the most generous calculation they never accounted for more than 2% of the Barcelona manual work-force. They soon established a reputation as strike breakers." Comillas was an opponent of the Sindicatos Libre of Pedro Gerard, a Dominican who was convinced that workers must receive adequate wages, as of right, not merely subsistence wages. His Free Syndicates opposed the general strike of 1917 along with their confessional counterparts but the extreme conservatism of Comillas still found Gerard uncongenial and, : " one whose ideas if put into practice would cost capitalists like Comillas much more in higher wages than they paid into syndicate subventions and mass pilgrimages."
A process of beatification
began in 1945.
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
: Claudi López i Bru, segòn Marquès de Comillas) and Grandee
Grandee
Grandee is the word used to render in English the Iberic high aristocratic title Grande , used by the Spanish nobility; Portuguese nobility, and Brazilian nobility....
of Spain (Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, 1853 - Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, 1925), was a Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
businessman , an immensely rich shipping magnate and landowner.
A Catholic, he was determined, according to a writer on the Spanish Catholic world, Frances Lannon
Frances Lannon
Dr Frances Lannon, FRHS is a British academic and educator. She is Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall and at St Antony's College...
, 'to keep his employees pious and out of radical unions.' He was a dominating influence in the National Council of Catholic Worker Corporations CNCCO, a kind of industrial branch of Catholic Action
Catholic Action
Catholic Action was the name of many groups of lay Catholics who were attempting to encourage a Catholic influence on society.They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries that fell under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Italy, Bavaria, France, and...
. A reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
he was criticized by the Asturian
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
priest Maximiliano Arboleya Martínez who commented that : " The workers in our Circles are talked to about religion, about morality, about resignation, about their obligations - it is almost never that anyone talks to them about the injustices, about the obligations of the capitalists..."
For thirty years, (1895-1925), Comillas dominated Catholic policy-making on labour relations.
Biography
Compañía Transatlántica Española
Compañía Transatlántica Española , also known as Spanish Line in documents in English, is a passenger ocean line that has largely ceased operations although it still exists as a company...
, Antonio López y López (1817–1883), and Catalan lady Lluïsa Bru i Lassús.
He studied law at Barcelona University (Universitat de Barcelona). In 1883, following his father's death, he inherited the title "Marquis of Comillas
Comillas
Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquisate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle which overlooks the town.-Marquis of Comillas:The first...
". Barely in his thirties, he ran all the companies his father had started, foremost of which were Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas and Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España. In the following years, Claudio himself would expand his father's estate, with coal company Hullera Española, Banca López Bru, Constructora Naval and Banco Vitalicio.
He promoted the Pontifical Seminary of Comillas
Comillas
Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquisate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle which overlooks the town.-Marquis of Comillas:The first...
(Cantabria
Cantabria
Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria...
). The first building was inaugurated in 1890 and through a decree of the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, it became the Pontifical University of Comillas
In 1893 vessel Cabo Machichaco, a ship not belonging to Claudio's CTE shipping line, exploded at the harbor in Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
. The explosion was of such magnitude that a thick mooring cable from the ship hit Peñacastillo, 8 km away, killing a person. Santander harbor was destroyed and the death toll reached 500.
As soon as he got the news, Claudio went to the spot and sent a train from Barcelona with doctors, nurses, firemen and medical equipment in order to treat the thousands of wounded.
After this action, Claudio consistently refused any attempt by the authorities to honor and reward him, stating simply that he had done merely his duty as a Christian.
He acted similarly after the 1908 Messina earthquake
1908 Messina earthquake
The 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami took some 100,000–200,000 lives on December 28, 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy.-Quake:On December 28, 1908 from about 05:20 to 05:21 an earthquake of 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale occurred centered on the of city Messina, in Sicily. Reggio...
that devastated this Italian town, causing tens of thousands of deaths. Claudio had his ship, the "Cataluña", one of his CTE vessels, transformed into a hospital and sent it rushing to the place.
Comillas was a dominant figure in determining Catholic policy on labour relations. A workers section of Catholic Action was set up under his influence in 1894, followed in 1919 by a women's, and in 1924 by a youth section. They were firmly under hierarchical and magnate control, 'associations of leaders with few followers.' The most characteristic efflorescences of Catholic Action at this time were words and gestures rather than purposeful organisations, - congresses and processions rather than flourishing workers' associations. Comillas financed spectacular pilgrimages for working men to shrines in Spain and abroad. And, impressed by the Catholic Railwayman's syndicate , led by Agustin Ruiz, and its performance in oppposing the railway strike of July 1916 and the general strike of August 1917, tried hard to create an accompanying web of Catholic miners syndicates, especially in the militant Asturian pits, where he himself owned pits. Comillas was also influential in the Popular Social Action (ASP) initiative, founded by a Jesuit priest, Gabriel Palau in 1907 in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. Palau wanted to make Barcelona the centre of a national network of social Catholic initiatives. It attracted bourgeois Catholics, and its financial needs were largely met by Comillas. The syndicates that became associated with the ASP were called Professional Unions. "A recent study has emphasised their paternalism - at the most generous calculation they never accounted for more than 2% of the Barcelona manual work-force. They soon established a reputation as strike breakers." Comillas was an opponent of the Sindicatos Libre of Pedro Gerard, a Dominican who was convinced that workers must receive adequate wages, as of right, not merely subsistence wages. His Free Syndicates opposed the general strike of 1917 along with their confessional counterparts but the extreme conservatism of Comillas still found Gerard uncongenial and, : " one whose ideas if put into practice would cost capitalists like Comillas much more in higher wages than they paid into syndicate subventions and mass pilgrimages."
A process of beatification
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
began in 1945.