Rafael Rodríguez Rapún (1912–18 August 1937) was a Spanish footballer, actor and soldier during 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 ...

. He was the companion of Spanish poet

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

Life

A mining engineer by profession, great sportsman,

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

footballer,

PSOE 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 ...

activist, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún was from a working-class background. In 1933, he joined Federico García Lorca's ''La Barraca'' theater company as an actor. García Lorca affectionately nicknamed him "The Man with the Three Rs", in reference to his initials. Luis Sáenz de la Calzada, a painter and also an actor of La Barraca, described his: "Kinky, hair, not very wide forehead furrowed by a deep transverse wrinkle; correct nose that gave him, to a certain extent, the profile of a Greek statue." García Lorca and Rodríguez Rapún fell in love during the summer of 1935 tour of ''La Barraca,'' when he named him clerk of the company. Once the assassination of García Lorca by

Francoist 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 ...

militias was announced at the end of summer 1936, Rodríguez Rapún decided to join the front to defend the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

during the

. After undergoing artillery training in the town of Lorca,

province of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a population of 1,511,251 as at the start of 2020. About a ...

, he was sent to the Cantabrian front with a rank of lieutenant. He died on 18 August 1937 during the

Battle of Santander The Battle of Santander was fought in the War in the North campaign of the Spanish Civil War during the summer of 1937. Santander's fall on 26 August assured the Nationalist conquest of the province of Santander, now Cantabria. The battle deva ...

, a year after the assassination of his companion. His memory was resurfaced by Ian Gibson in the book "Lorca y el mundo gay" in 2009 and by the writer and friend of Rafael

María Teresa León María Teresa León Goyri (31 October 1903 – 13 December 1988) was a Spanish writer, activist and cultural ambassador. Born in Logroño, she was the niece of the Spanish feminist and writer María Goyri de Menéndez Pidal, María Goyri (the wi ...

, who considered him one the muses of the masterpiece ''los Sonetos del amor oscuro.'' Others believe, however, that the inspiration was Juan Ramírez de Lucas, another love interest of the poet.

References

1912 births 1937 deaths Military personnel from Madrid Spanish military personnel killed in the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Male actors from Madrid 20th-century Spanish male actors Spanish gay actors Spanish male stage actors 20th-century Spanish LGBTQ people Gay sportsmen Gay military personnel Spanish LGBTQ military personnel Spanish LGBTQ footballers Burials at Ciriego Cemetery Men's association football players not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality Federico García Lorca 20th-century Spanish sportsmen {{Spain-actor-stub