Luis Alegre Zahonero (born 16 March 1977) is a Spanish philosopher and writer, a professor in the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

, and a founding member of Podemos.

Biography

Luis Alegre is a researcher and professor of philosophy in the

. He is a disciple of

Carlos Fernández Liria Carlos Fernández Liria (born 1959) is a Spanish philosopher and lecturer at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). Biography He was born in 1959 in Zaragoza. Fernández Liria, who started his teaching experience as professor of secondary ...

, also a philosophy lecturer at the university, with whom he has collaborated on several magazines and

alternative media Alternative media are media sources that differ from established forms of media, such as mainstream media or mass media, in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publica ...

sites such as '' El Viejo Topo'', '' Viento Sur'' and ''

Rebelion.org ''Rebelión'' is a nonprofit news site, started in Spain at the end of 1996 by a group of journalists. It contains scientific and opinion articles covering topics such as current affairs, free knowledge, culture, ecology, economics, and resistanc ...

''. Alegre and Fernandez Liria have written several books together, most notably ''The Order of Capital'', which won the Liberator Prize for Critical Thinking in 2010. This award, granted by the Ministry of Culture in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, rewarded the winners with a $150,000 purse. Other books written by the pair include ''Education for Citizenship, Democracy, Capitalism and the Rule of Law''; ''Understand Venezuela, Think Democracy ''; ''Philosophy and Citizenship''; ''Ethico-Civic Education''; and ''Education for Citizenship''. In June 2015 Alegre was assigned third place on a list of the 50 most influential homosexuals of Spain, compiled by ''La Otra Crónica'' of '' El Mundo''.

Political activity

Luis Alegre has belonged since 1992 to various left-wing political organizations. He actively participated in the student movement against the commodification of his university from 1999 to 2002. He was a member of the Alternative Space party, which subsequently led to

Anticapitalistas Anticapitalistas (, , ), known as Izquierda Anticapitalista (Anti-Capitalist Left, IA) until January 2015 and as Espacio Alternativo (Alternative Space, EA) from 1995 to November 2008, is a socialist political organisation that works as a confed ...

. He served on the executive council of the Foundation Center for Political and Social Studies (CEPS Foundation). Later he became head of communications within the leadership of Podemos. After the European Parliament elections of 2014, he was elected as coordinator of the task group that organized the "Yes we can" Citizens' Assembly, held at the

Palacio Vistalegre The Palacio Vistalegre is a multipurpose arena located 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 ar ...

, where he was one of five speakers (along with Pablo Iglesias,

Íñigo Errejón Íñigo Errejón Galván (; born 14 December 1983) is a Spanish political scientist and former politician. Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science, he was the secretary for policy and strategy and campaigning of Podemos (Spanish political part ...

, Juan Carlos Monedero, and Carolina Bescansa) from among the founding members of Podemos. At the end of this assembly, Luis Alegre was elected as a member of the

Citizens' Council The White Citizens' Councils were an associated network of white supremacist, segregationist organizations in the United States, concentrated in the South and created as part of a white backlash against the US Supreme Court's landmark ''Brow ...

and of the State Executive of the party. In February 2015, he was elected as Secretary General of the party in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

."El fundador de Podemos Luis Alegre salta de la lista para quedarse en la universidad"
''eldiario.es'', 19 November 2015. He announced in November 2015 that he would not be on the list of Podemos candidates for the forthcoming

General Election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, preferring to remain in his university post.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alegre Zahonero, Luis Politicians from Madrid Podemos (Spanish political party) politicians 1977 births Living people Spanish gay politicians Spanish gay writers Academic staff of the Complutense University of Madrid