Cipriano Mera Sanz (4 November 1897 – 24 October 1975) was a Spanish military and political figure during the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

Early life

He had two sons (Floreal and Sergio) with his partner Teresa Gómez. A bricklayer, he joined the

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 ...

movement and presided over the construction union of Madrid of the

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The (CNT; ) is a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist national trade union center, trade union confederation. Founded in 1910 in Barcelona from groups brought together by the trade union ''Solidaridad Obrera (historical union), Solidaridad Obrera'', ...

(CNT). During the congress celebrated in

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three months before the beginning of the Spanish Revolution, he was in favor of the most radical, collaborating sectors of the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI). Mera led a strike of construction workers, electricians, and elevator operators in

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 ...

in June 1936. As a result, he was imprisoned in early July.

Spanish Civil War

When the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

exploded he was released, and led a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

that put down the uprising in

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Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

and Cuenca. Next, he defended the dams of Lozoya, which supplied Madrid, and fought in the mountain ranges of Ávila and the valley of the Tiétar river. He was given command of the 14th Division and it acted in the defense of Madrid, the Battle of Guadalajara (March 1937) and in the Battle of Brunete (July 1937). He replaced Juan Perea Capulino in command of the IV Army Corps of the center. In April 1938 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

The end of the war

By 1939 Mera was convinced that the Republicans would be defeated. When Juan Negrín refused to surrender to

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

, Mera decided to support Segismundo Casado, commander of the Republican Army of the center, and Julián Besteiro of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

to stage a '' coup d'etat'' and establish an anti-Negrin, anti-Stalinist National Defence Council (''Consejo Nacional de Defensa''). In March 1939 he joined the rising of Casado to accelerate the end of the war and to restrain Communist Party of Spain control of the Republican zone. His forces were fundamental in the victory of Casado in Madrid against the 1st Corps of the Army of the Center sent to defeat the rising.

Exile and death

He marched to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

at the end of the war and soon by plane went to

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and

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, but he was extradited to Spain in February 1942. In 1943 he was condemned to death, a sentence that was exchanged for 30 years in prison, but he was pardoned in 1946. In 1947, he emigrated to Paris, where he worked as a bricklayer until his death in St. Cloud, France in 1975.

Films

He appeared as himself in the 1936 CNT film production "''Castilla Libertaria''". In 2009, a documentary entitled "''Vivir de Pie. Las Guerras de Cipriano Mera''" (Living on Your Feet: The Struggles of Cipriano Mera) was released.Vivir de pie. Las guerras de Cipriano Mera

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References

Sources

* * *Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge.'' Harper Perennial. London, 2006.

External links

Cipriano Mera Page
from the Anarchist Encyclopedia
Cipriano Mera: Portrait of a Battler by Julián Vadillo Muñoz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mera, Cipriano 1897 births 1975 deaths Military personnel from Madrid Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish army officers Bricklayers Spanish emigrants to France Spanish prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Spain People extradited to Spain People extradited from France Pardon recipients