Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
– 23 July 1980 in
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 ...
) was a Spanish industrial engineer, politician, and
polygraph
A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a pseudoscientific device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a ...
who carried out his work in
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
ese prominent
carlist
Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
figure. His family had been involved in the Carlist movement since the 19th century. He was raised in Barcelona. Without abandoning his
catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
beliefs, he evolved toward
communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
positions. He married María Lluïsa Oliveres. In 1956, he joined the Popular Liberation Front (Spanish: Frente de Liberación Popular, FLP, known colloquially as FELIPE), but abandoned it in 1962 to join the Workers' Front of Catalonia (
Catalan language
Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...
: Front Obrer de Catalunya, FOC), which was the Catalan referent of FELIPE. In 1970, he joined the Organización Comunista de España (Bandera Roja) ( Communist Organization of Spain (Red Flag), (OCE-BR)), but left it to found the Bandera Roja de Catalunya (Red Flag of Catalonia) in 1974, which a little later joined the
Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia
The Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (, PSUC) was a communist political party active in Catalonia between 1936 and 1997. It was the Catalan branch of the Communist Party of Spain and the only party not from a sovereign state to be a full membe ...
(Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya, PSUC). In 1973, he created the Christians for Socialism movement together with Joan N. García-Nieto, and was one of its central figures. In 1980, he was elected as a representative to the
Parliament of Catalonia
The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as Deputy (legislator), deput ...
for the
Province of Barcelona
Barcelona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .PSUC.
A big part of the political and social problem that he dealt with had to do with Andalusian immigrants in Catalonia, especially in Barcelona, from the 1950s. He was the editor of the periodical Taula de Canvi from 1976 until his death. His political heirs founded the ''Fundació Alfons Comín'' (Alfons Comín Foundation) in 1983 in his memory. Its principal goals have been to publish the complete works of Alfonso Comín and to work in the line of social, political, and religious commitment that inspired his life.
His son, Antoni Comín, is the current
Minister of Health
A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...
* ''España del sur'' (1965)
* ''España, ¿país de Misión?'' (1966)
* ''Noticia de Andalucía'' (1970)
* ''Per una estratègia sindical'' (1970)
* ''Fe en la tierra'' (1975)
* ''Qué es el sindicalismo'' (1976)
* ''La reconstrucción de la Palabra'' (1977)
* ''Cristianos en el partido, Comunistas en la Iglesia'' (1977)
* ''Por qué soy marxista y otras confesiones'' (1979)
* ''Cuba entre el silencio y la utopía'' (1979)
Further reading
* Marzà, Albert, ''Alfonso Comín, esperança en la història'', Edicions 62, Barcelona, 1995.
* Carmona, Francisco, J., ''Cambios en la identidad católica: juventud de Alfonso Carlos Comín'', Ed. Libertarias/Prodhufi, Madrid, 1995.
* García Chicón, Agustín, ''La antropología cristiano-marxista en Alfonso Carlos Comín'', Ayuntamiento de Málaga. Área de Cultura, 2002.
* Castellet, Josep Maria, ''Seductors, il·lustrats i visionaris. Sis personatges en temps adversos'', Edicions 62, Barcelona, 2009.
* Martínez Hoyos, Francisco, ''La cruz y el martillo: Alfonso Carlos Comín y los cristianos comunistas'', Rubeo, Barcelona, 2009.
* González Casanova, José Antonio, ''Comín, mi amigo'', El Lector Universal, Barcelona, 2010.