Ramón Chíes y Gómez de Riofranco (13 October 1845 – 1893) was a Spanish journalist, editor, and political activist. Best known for his support for

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

and republican positions, Chíes was an early proponent of Spanish

Freethought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

as well as an advocate of the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

and the

eight-hour working day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time. The modern movement originated in ...

Biography

Chíes was born in the municipality of

Medina de Pomar Medina de Pomar is a municipality and town located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain, 77 km from Bilbao, and 8 kilometres from Villarcayo. Medina de Pomar is part of the Comarca of Las Merindades. Notable people * Ram ...

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

in 1846, and studied the

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

in Santander and

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 ...

before selecting

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

as his professional focus. Following the success of the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

in 1868, Chíes took part in the formation of the Federal Republican Party the same year.Serrano Alonso, Javier (2000). ''Literatura modernista y tiempo del 98''. Santiago de Compostela: Univ. Santiago de Compostela
p. 378, n4.
, . Chíes was the editor of ''El voto nacional'' (''The National Vote'') and founded the weekly ''Las dominicales del Libre Pensamiento'' (''The Sundays of

'') with Fernando Lozano in 1882. As editor of the ''Dominicales'', Chíes was prosecuted for

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

and condemned to six months' imprisonment and a heavy fine, but was acquitted on appeal after a significant effort to reverse the ruling.Malbran, F. (1890). "The Rise and Progress of Freethought in Spain". '' The Freethinker'' Vol. 10, No. 15
pp. 177-179
Shortly before his death in 1893, Chíes was elected a member of the council of the municipality of Madrid; in this capacity he proceeded to advocate that the Spanish workers be granted the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time. The modern movement originated i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chies Navarro, Ramon 1845 births 1893 deaths Freethought writers People from the Province of Burgos Spanish republicans Spanish politicians Spanish activists Spanish journalists People charged with blasphemy 19th-century journalists Spanish male journalists 19th-century Spanish male writers