Madrid 12-02-1905 ‖ Toulouse 14-01-1994
Period of activity: From 1920 until 1984
Geographical classification: Europe > Spain
Socio-cultural movements
Late modern period / Contemporary period > Feminism
Late modern period / Contemporary period > Socio-political movements > Labor movement > Syndicalism
Late modern period / Contemporary period > Socio-political movements > Labor movement > Anarchism
Historical milestones > Spanish Civil War
Groups by dedication
Rulers > Politicians
Activists > Feminists (activists)
Writers > Story writers
Writers > Essayists
Writers > Orators
Writers > Autobiographers
Writers > Biographers
Writers > Journalists / Chroniclers > Columnists
Writers > Journalists / Chroniclers
Context of feminine creation
She can be connected to other contemporary activists, like Teresa Claramunt, Amparo Poch, Lucía Sánchez Saornil and María Durán. Also, to other women who took part in Spanish politics, such as Clara Campoamor, Margarita Nelken, Victoria Kent and Dolores Ibárruri.
In Europe, Emma Goldman and Aleksandra Kolontái were ministers as well.
Some of her predecessors in the 19th century were Flora Tristan and Louise Michel.
Writer of novels, essays and newspaper articles. She studied philosophy and arts at Universitat de Barcelona, while she was affiliated to the National Confederation of Workers (CNT) and collaborated in anarchist publications, where she wrote about philosophy, literature and feminism. Because she was an anarchist, she was opposed to the government and its institutions, but finally decided to join the government, even though it implied betraying her beliefs, to fight the fascists. As Health Minister, she funded homes for children, schools for prostitutes to learn a trade, and she enacted a law for terminating pregnancies. Her task was characterised for trying to modernise social policies in Spain, but was blocked by the advance of the Civil War.
Federica Montseny Mañé was a politician, trade unionist, anarchist and writer from Spain, minister during the Spanish Civil War, the first woman to become minister in Spain, and one of the first in Western Europe. She published nearly fifty short novels with social and romantic undertones, aimed at working-class women, as well as political, ethical, biographical and auto-biographical texts.
Her efficient task in the government was limited by the short duration of her post as a Minister of Health and Social Policy in the government of Francisco Largo Caballero. She was only minister for six months (November, 1936 - May 1937). In that short period of time, she planned children's refuges, community kitchens for pregnant women, schools for prostitutes, a list of jobs for disabled people and the first draft for abortion laws in Spain. Of the children's refuges, which were nothing like the depressing orphanages that existed at the time, only one could be opened near Valencia. There was no time either for the development of the community kitchens for pregnant women, where complete nutrition was ensured.
Like many other thousands of Spanish people, she was forced to move to France after the Civil War, where she was persecuted by the Nazi and Francoist police, who asked for her extradition, but it was denied by French authorities. She lived on probation until the liberation of France from German occupation in 1944.
After the arrival of democracy in Spain in 1977, she came back to her country and continued her CNT and anarchist activism. She enjoyed great prestige until her death. In her last years, she demanded from the state the return of the trade union assets seized from the CNT after the end of the Civil War. She strongly opposed the Moncloa Pacts and the newly established Spanish constitutional political system.
Wikipedia, retrieved on 17/03/2022, https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federica_Montseny
Una vida (1936).
El éxodo: Pasión y muerte de los españoles en el exilio (1950).
¿Qué es el anarquismo? (1976).
Cent dies de la vida d’una dona (1976).
Mis primeros cuarenta años (1987).
La Comuna de París i la Revolució Espanyola (2006).
- Lozano Domingo, Irene (2005). Federica Montseny: una anarquista en el poder. Espasa.
- Tavera García, Susanna (2005). Federica Montseny la indomable. Barcelona: Editorial Temas de Hoy.
- Rodrigo García, Antonina (2019). Federica Montseny: Primera ministra electa de Europa. Barcelona: Editorial Base.
- Film. La dona que parla by Laura Mañá (2021).
Federica Montseny can be addressed in the subject of history in 4th of ESO in the block dedicated to the Spanish Second Republic. It is essential to explain its reforms from the Ministry of Health, as well as to understand the internal conflicts that arose between the different ideologies that confronted the fascist advance.
Some of her excerpts on anarchism can be read for a more in-depth treatment of this topic within the subject of the workers' movement in Spain and the different mobilizations and trade union affiliations.
She can also be covered in Bachillerato in both 1st year in history of the contemporary world and 2nd year history of Spain.
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