José Antonio Sánchez Ferlosio (1940–2003), commonly known by his

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio, was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

anti-Francoist

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. Although the son of

Falangist Falangism () was the political ideology of three political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española, the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS), and afterwa ...

leader

Rafael Sánchez Mazas Rafael Sánchez Mazas (18 February 1894 – October 1966) was a Spanish nationalist writer and a leader of the Falange, a far-right political movement created in Spain before the Spanish Civil War. Biography Sánchez Mazas received a law degr ...

, by the 1960s, Chicho Sánchez had joined the anti-Francoist opposition and began making and publishing music for the movement. Initially a

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 ...

, he later became an

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 ...

and continued making music through the

Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

Biography

José Antonio Sánchez Ferlosio, later known by the nickname "Chicho", was born in 1940. He was the third son of the

leader

, and the younger brother of , Rafael and Gabriela Sánchez Ferlosio. After growing up in

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

, a regime which his own father had helped to establish, Sánchez turned against the regime and became a staunch anti-Francoist activist. By the 1960s, Sánchez had become a popular singer-songwriter of the anti-Francoist opposition. In 1961, he met a group of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

musicians known as '' Cantacronache'', with which he travelled around Spain collecting anti-Francoist poems and songs. Two years later, in 1963, he released the album ''Canciones de la resistencia española'' (), which he published clandestinely in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. To evade Francoist censorship, Sánchez often presented the political content of his songs indirectly, as was the case with his 1964 song "Gallo rojo, gallo negro" (). Sánchez popularised the song "La Huelga" (), written by Chilean singer-songwriter Roberto Alarcón, among Spanish listeners. He also inspired the Catalan ''

Nova Cançó The Nova Cançó (, meaning in English "The New Song") was an artistic movement that promoted Catalan music in Francoist Spain. The movement sought to normalize use of the Catalan language in popular music and denounced the injustices in Francoi ...

'' movement, which sought to rehabilitate regional cultures that were marginalised by the

centralisation Centralisation or centralization (American English) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning, decision-making, and framing strategies and policies, become concentrated within a particular ...

of the Francoist regime. In 1965, Sánchez joined the

Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) () is an anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist communist party in Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in No ...

(PCE-ML), but he quickly became disillusioned with Marxism-Leninism after visiting

People's Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, () was the Marxist-Leninist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to the 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the P ...

and observing the

political repression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

taking place there. He soon left the communist party and became an

. Inspired by the anarchist philosophy of Agustín García Calvo, Sánchez became intensely critical of

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

s such as the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and the

Catholic Church 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 ...

. He later joined 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 ...

(CNT), an anarchist

trade union centre Organizers within trade unions have sought to increase the bargaining power of workers in regards to collective bargaining by acting in collaboration with other trade unions. Multi-union organizing can take place on an informal basis, or on a ...

. His music remained popular following the

, taking a place among the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

that emerged during the 1970s. Later in his life, Sánchez was interviewed in a park in Madrid for the 2003 film ''

Soldiers of Salamina ''Soldiers of Salamis'' (Spanish: ''Soldados de Salamina'') is a novel about the Spanish Civil War published in 2001 by Spanish author Javier Cercas. It is composed in a mixture of fact and fiction, which is something of a speciality of the au ...

'', in which the protagonist investigated the unsuccessful attempt by

Spanish republicans The Republican faction (), also known as the Loyalist faction () or the Government faction (), was the side in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939 that supported the government of the Second Spanish Republic against the Nationalist faction of t ...

to execute his father. Sánchez died that same year, in 2003.

Discography

* ' (1963) * ' (1978) * ' (1982) * '' Romancero de Durruti'' (1999)

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Canciones de la resistencia española
1964. Investigación sobre el disco sueco de Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio.

Romancero de Durruti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez Ferlosio, Chicho 1940 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Spanish singers Anarchist music Anti-fascist music Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Musicians from Madrid Spanish anarchists Spanish Anti-Francoists Spanish communists Spanish expatriates in Sweden Spanish male singer-songwriters Spanish political music artists Spanish singer-songwriters