Dionisio Ridruejo
Encyclopedia
Dionisio Ridruejo Jiménez (born 12 October 1912 in Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma, Soria
Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma, Soria
Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma is the third-largest municipality in the province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Spain. It has a population of about 5,250.It is made up of two parts:...

 - died 29 June 1975 in 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...

) was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 poet and political figure within the Falange
Falange
The Spanish Phalanx of the Assemblies of the National Syndicalist Offensive , known simply as the Falange, is the name assigned to several political movements and parties dating from the 1930s, most particularly the original fascist movement in Spain. The word means phalanx formation in Spanish....

. He was co-author of the words to the Falangist anthem Cara al Sol
Cara al Sol
Cara al Sol is the anthem of the Falange party. The lyrics were written in December 1935 and are usually credited to the then leader of the Falange, José Antonio Primo de Rivera. The music was composed by Juan de Tellería and Juan R. Buendia....

.

Falangism

A close friend of Ramón Serrano Súñer
Ramón Serrano Súñer
Ramón Serrano Súñer , was a Spanish politician during the first stages of General Francisco Franco's dictatorship, the Spanish State, between 1938 and 1942, when he held the posts of President of the Political Junta Política of Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS , and Interior and...

, his tireless work as a propagandist, as well as his short stature and swarthy appearance, earned him the early nickname of the "Spanish Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...

". Under Serrano Súñer's influence he was appointed as Minister of Propaganda to the cabinet of Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

 in 1938. A strong Falangist and as a result sometimes in conflict with the military tendency within Francoism, he was censured during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

 by General Álvarez-Arenas for producing propaganda leaflets in the Catalan language
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...

, with the military elite deciding that Spain's minority languages should be crushed rather than courted.

Ridruejo's uneasiness with the conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 military elements of Franco's government was to prove his undoing. Thus his dismissal from the post of Propaganda Minister was secured in 1941 by his Cabinet colleague Colonel Valentín Galarza Morante
Valentín Galarza Morante
Colonel Valentín Galarza Morante was a Spanish officer and right wing politician. He was associated with the monarchist tendency within the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista and was critical of the Falange.-Conspiracies:An early supporter of José...

 after Ridruejo had published an article in Arriba condemning the hold that he felt the Colonel had over Franco. Galarza used his influence to ensure the dismissal of Ridruejo and he would not return to government thereafter. He was also damaged by the fact that he had been active in support of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 as other pro-Nazis such as Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis
Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis
Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis was a Spanish Falangist politician. He was an important figure in the early history of the movement but later fell out of favour.-Falangism:...

 and Pedro Gamero del Castillo
Pedro Gamero del Castillo
Pedro Gamero del Castillo was a Spanish politician and figure in the Spanish Civil War.-Early years:...

 were dismissed at the same time.

Anti-Franco activity

In 1955 the disillusioned Ridruejo set up a semi-clandestine club bringing together 'authentic' Falangists with communists
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

, socialists
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 and democrats
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 (such as Enrique Múgica, Fernando Sánchez Dragó, Ramón Tamames, José María Ruiz Gallardón, and others)in a loose alliance united only by opposition to the Franco regime. His opposition activity saw him jailed briefly the following year and again in 1957 when he told the Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n radical journal Bohemia that he was active in the illegal opposition.

By the early 1960s Ridruejo's opposition activity saw him living in exile in South America. He published his autobiography, Escrito en España in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 in 1962 with the book also detailing his conversion from Falangism to social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...

which had occurred around this time. He returned to Spain late in life and died in Madrid in 1975.
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