Evelio Boal López (

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, 11 May 1884 –

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, 18 June 1921) was a Spanish

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. He was one of the organizers of the Congress of Sants of the

National Confederation of Labour National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, forming part of the commission that wrote the report.

Biography

Evelio Boal was born in

on 11 May 1884. At a very young age he went to live in Barcelona, where he worked as a typographer. By 1908 he was already a member of the board of the Union of the Art of Printing and launched the strike against ''

El Progreso El Progreso () is a city, with a population of 120,600 (2023 calculation), and a municipality located in the Honduran Departments of Honduras, department of Yoro (department), Yoro. Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport of San Pedro Su ...

'', an organ of

Alejandro Lerroux Alejandro Lerroux García (4 March 1864, in La Rambla, Córdoba – 25 June 1949, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party. He served as Prime Minister three times from 1933 to 1935 and held sever ...

Radical Republican Party The Radical Republican Party (), sometimes shortened to the Radical Party, was a Spanish Radical party in existence between 1908 and 1936. Beginning as a splinter from earlier Radical parties, it initially played a minor role in Spanish parlia ...

. He later joined the

National Confederation of Labor National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(, CNT) and collaborated in the weekly '' Tierra y Libertad'' under the pseudonym ''Chispazos''. He was also an amateur actor, with which he directed the Grupo Artístico Teatral del Centro Obrero. He took part in the organization of the 1917 general strike and was the one who drafted the minutes of the joint meetings with the

General Union of Workers A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...

(, UGT). In August 1918 he was elected a member of the CNT Committee and in February 1919 he provisionally replaced

Manuel Buenacasa Tomeo Manuel Buenacasa Tomeo (1886–1964) was a Spanish militant anarchist, general secretary and chronicler of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI) trade unions. Career Buenacasa was born on 7 J ...

as the CNT's

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

. In January 1919 he was arrested during the

La Canadenca strike The strike (, ) was a historic strike action in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that was initiated in February 1919 by the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and lasted over 44 days evolving into a general strike paralyzing much of the indu ...

, being released shortly thereafter by popular request. In the December of that same year, he was confirmed in office at the CNT congress that was held at the Madrid Comedy Theatre. There he was one of the 24 signatories of the opinion on the ideological definition of the CNT, which declared its purpose to be the pursuit of

libertarian communism Anarchist communism is a far-left political ideology and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private real property but retention of personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and serv ...

. He was also delegated to meet with union leaders in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. In August 1920, together with

Salvador Seguí Salvador Seguí i Rubinat (23 September 1887, in Lleida – 10 March 1923, in Barcelona), known as ''El noi del sucre'' ("the sugar boy" in Catalan) for his habit of eating the sugar cubes served him with his coffee, was a Catalan anarcho-synd ...

and

Salvador Quemades Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

, he traveled to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

to rebuild the alliance between the CNT and the UGT for future mobilizations. He was secretary of the CNT Committee until March 1921, when he was arrested and imprisoned in the Barcelona Model Prison, where he was beaten and tortured. When he was released on the morning of 17 June 1921, he was assassinated at the prison gate, along with , then treasurer of the CNT, in application of the escape law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boal López, Evelio 1884 births 1921 deaths People from Valladolid General secretaries of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo Assassinated anarchists