Emilio Frugoni
Encyclopedia
Emilio Frugoni was a Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an socialist
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,...
politician, lawyer, poet, essayist, and journalist. He founded the Socialist Party of Uruguay
Socialist Party of Uruguay
The Socialist Party of Uruguay is an Uruguayan political party founded in 1910. Its main leader and spokesman was Dr Emilio Frugoni, the most prominent advocate of socialist ideas in Uruguay....
(PS) in 1910 and was its first general secretary, as well as its first representative in the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of Uruguay
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the General Assembly of Uruguay . The Chamber has 99 members, elected for a five year term by proportional representation...
.
Early activism
Born in MontevideoMontevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
as one of the four children of Don Domingo Frugoni and Doña Josefina Queirolo, Emilio Frugoni joined José Batlle y Ordóñez
José Batlle y Ordóñez
José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez was the president of Uruguay in 1899 and from 1903 until 1907 and for a further term from 1911 to 1915. He was the son of former president, Lorenzo Batlle y Grau. His children César, Rafael and Lorenzo Batlle Pacheco were actively engaged in politics...
's camp during the political fighting in 1904, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. Upon the end of the conflict, he decided to, in his own words:
- "never again get involved in the bloody rivalry [between the Colorado PartyColorado Party (Uruguay)The Colorado Party is a political party in Uruguay.- Aims :It unites Conservative, Moderate and Social democratic groups. It was the dominant party of government almost without exception during the stabilisation of the Uruguayan republic....
and the Blanco PartyNational Party (Uruguay)The National Party , also known as the White Party , is a major right-wing conservative political party in Uruguay, currently the major opposition party to the ruling Frente Amplio government....
] (...) in order to open a new road for the political opinions of our people, to distance it from the archaic customs of blanco and colorado traditionalism (...)."
In December 1904, Frugoni wrote his Profesión de fe socialista ("Socialist Testimonial") - which was partly published in the newspaper El Día. This was the start of a process leading to the creation of the PS. A while after that, he commented in his El Socialismo no es la violencia, ni el despojo, ni el reparto ("Socialism Is Not Violence, Nor Plunder, Nor Redistribution
Redistribution (economics)
Redistribution of wealth is the transfer of income, wealth or property from some individuals to others caused by a social mechanism such as taxation, monetary policies, welfare, nationalization, charity, divorce or tort law. Most often it refers to progressive redistribution, from the rich to the...
"):
- "The Socialist Party, which is revolutionRevolutionA revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
ary in its goals, is not insurrectional in its means, and does not aim to launch proletarians in a sterile struggle, nor does it seek to place all political power in the hands of the working classWorking classWorking class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
before it has worked within peaceful norms allowed by the development of its organisation and civic capacity, by the possibility to support itself in the conscious will of the nation (...) we will combat the bourgeois order, the social order, the economical and juridical ones that base themselves on the class inequalities and consecrate them, but we will not alter the "public order" by placing ourselves on the border of legalityLegalityThe principle of legality is the legal ideal that requires all law to be clear, ascertainable and non-retrospective. It requires decision makers to resolve disputes by applying legal rules that have been declared beforehand, and not to alter the legal situation retrospectively by discretionary...
(...) we will not hold a subversive position in front of our constitutional order."
Opposition to dictatorships
In 1920, he demanded a Party agreement on its position towards the October RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and Bolshevism. In the 1921 Congress, the PS voted to join the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
, and turned itself into the Communist Party of Uruguay
Communist Party of Uruguay
The Communist Party of Uruguay is a communist political party in Uruguay, created on September 21, 1920. It is a member organisation of the ruling Broad Front.The current PCU secretary-general is ....
(PCU); Frugoni refused to adhere to the party line
Party line (politics)
In politics, the line or the party line is an idiom for a political party or social movement's canon agenda, as well as specific ideological elements specific to the organization's partisanship. The common phrase toeing the party line describes a person who speaks in a manner that conforms to his...
, and refounded the PS as a non-communist
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...
group. In the 1928 elections, the PCU obtained 3,911 votes, and the PS 2,931.
He became an opponent of authoritarian
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
President Gabriel Terra
Gabriel Terra
Dr. Gabriel Terra Leivas was the President of Uruguay from 1931 to 1938.- Background :Born in Montevideo to a wealthy family, he graduated from the University of Uruguay in 1895, and subsequently joined the faculty....
in the 1930s, and was imprisoned, then exiled. Elected deputy in 1934, he had opposed the dictotorship enforced by the legislative, and, upon the swearing in of Terra, declared:
- "The oath is worthless, as Dr. Terra has shown he does not carry out his promises."
He walked out of the Parliament to the PS headquarters as the former was stormed by police forces.
In 1942, Frugoni was named Uruguay's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Diplomatic rank
Diplomatic rank is the system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. Over time it has been formalized on an international basis.-Ranks:...
to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
by President Juan José de Amézaga
Juan José de Amézaga
-Background:Amézaga was a prominent member of the Uruguayan Colorado Party, which ruled the country for long periods.He was a lawyer by profession, and taught that subject at university level for many years....
. He resigned his position in 1946 and returned to Montevideo, as he had become a harsh critic of Soviet policies. In La Esfinge Roja (1948), the book containing his experiences, he wrote:
- "The fate of the Soviet citizen, and most of all his individual destiny, is suffering a suffocation through the criterion with which the nation is being driven and governed, in the canons of a narrow pseudo-collectivistCollectivismCollectivism is any philosophic, political, economic, mystical or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goals. Collectivists usually focus on community, society, or nation...
fanaticism which places its focus only on masses and constantly dismisses the individual (...)."
Movimiento Socialista
In January 1963, he left the PS over internal disagreements, and created Movimiento Socialista, with which he ran in the elections of 1966. In 1966, he authored an Open Letter to the Socialists; among other things, it stated that "an electoral campaignPolitical campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
is nowadays an economical adventure", and showed Frugoni's willingness to contribute his personal wealth.
When the government of Jorge Pacheco Areco
Jorge Pacheco Areco
Jorge Pacheco Areco was a Uruguayan politician and member of the Colorado Party. He served as President of Uruguay from December 6, 1967 to March 1, 1972.-Vice President of Uruguay:...
outlawed the PS and closed down El Sol and the PS headquarters (La Casa del Pueblo), Frugoni rejected the possibility that the patrimony could pass to the Movimiento Socialista.
After his death, the Movimiento Socialista entered a tight alliance with the PS; nowadays, Frugoni's political thought is integrated in the party line of the PS.
Works
- La Esfinge Roja ("The Red SphinxSphinxA sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
") - Génesis, esencia y fundamentos del Socialismo ("Birth, Essence and Fundaments of Socialism")
- Las tres dimensiones de la democracia ("The Three Dimensions of DemocracyDemocracyDemocracy 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...
") - De Montevideo a Moscú ("From Montevideo to MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
") - Poemas Montevideanos ("Montevideo Poems")
- Ensayos sobre el Marxismo ("Essays on MarxismMarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
") - La revolución del machete ("The MacheteMacheteThe machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
Revolution")