Fernando Sánchez Dragó (2 October 1936 – 10 April 2023) was a Spanish writer and television host.

Biography

Fernando Sánchez Dragó was born in the

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Her ...

district of Madrid, the posthumous son of Fernando Sánchez Monreal, a journalist who was killed in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

by the Francoist Nationalist faction. His father was director of the news agency Febus, as well as director of the agency Noti-Sport. Sánchez was a student at the Colegio del Pilar and at the University of Madrid (now known as the Complutense). A member of the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving a ...

in his youth, he was imprisoned because of his opposition to

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Sp ...

and was in exile for seven years. Sánchez Dragó participated along with other figures linked to Spanish

Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...

in the Manifesto Against the Death of the Spirit and the Earth in 2002, later forming the ''Asociación Manifiesto'', a meeting point of old and new reactionaries as well as former

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack r ...

group

CEDADE CEDADE (from the initials of ''Círculo Español de Amigos de Europa'' or 'Spanish Circle of Friends of Europe') was a Spanish neo-Nazi group that concerned itself with co-ordinating international activity and publishing. History The group began l ...

members. Labelled a "new reactionary", he however described himself as an individualist libertarian anarchist. The author of more than 45 books, he won the 1979 Premio Nacional de Ensayo for his essay ''Gárgoris y Habidis. Una historia mágica de España''. This work has been criticised because of its

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

content, mostly attacking

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

. Sánchez Dragó also won the 1992

Premio Planeta The Premio Planeta de Novela is a Spanish literary prize, awarded since 1952 by the Spanish publisher Grupo Planeta to an original unpublished novel written in Spanish. It is one of about 16 literary prizes given by Planeta. Financially, it is t ...

for his novel ''La prueba del laberinto'' and the 2006

Fernando Lara Novel Award The Fernando Lara Novel Award ( es, Premio Fernando Lara de Novela, links=no) is given annually in Spain by the José Manuel Lara Foundation and the Planeta publishing house to an unpublished novel in the Spanish language. The publication of the ...

for his book based on the life and death of his father, ''Muertes paralelas''. In a 2010 work entitled ''Dios los cría... y ellos hablan de sexo, drogas, España, corrupción...'', Sánchez Dragó bragged about having had sex with two thirteen year-old minors during his time in Japan in 1967. A noted endorsement in the meeting of the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...

political party Vox celebrated in the

Palacio Vistalegre The Palacio Vistalegre is a multipurpose arena located in Madrid, Spain. It was built on the site of the former bullring, "Plaza de toros de Vista Alegre", built in 1906 and demolished in 1995. The venue is composed of three main spaces: The Ar ...

in October 2018, he vowed to support 90% of the party political programme. Sánchez Dragó died on 10 April 2023, at age 86, after suffering a heart attack at his residence in Castilfrío de la Sierra.

Awards

* Adopted Son of

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial popula ...

(1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sánchez Dragó, Fernando 1936 births 2023 deaths Writers from Madrid Spanish prisoners and detainees Spanish television presenters Spanish television journalists Spanish television personalities Male essayists Spanish essayists Spanish literary critics 20th-century Spanish writers 21st-century Spanish writers Antisemitism in Spain Spanish anti-communists Spanish libertarians Spanish educators