Blas Infante

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Infante and the second or maternal family name is Pérez de Vargas.
Blas Infante
Blas Infante, c. 1914
Born
Blas Infante Pérez de Vargas

(1885-07-05)5 July 1885
Casares, Málaga, Spain
Died11 August 1936(1936-08-11) (aged 51)
Seville, Spain
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad
NationalitySpanish
Alma materUniversity of Granada
Occupation(s)Notary, writer
Political partyFederal Democratic Republican Party
Monument to Blas Infante, Father of Andalusia,[1] erected in the location where he was executed without trial by rebels in 1936.

Blas Infante Pérez de Vargas (5 July 1885 – 11 August 1936) was an Andalusian socialist politician,[2] Georgist,[3] writer, historian and musicologist. He is considered the "father of Andalusia" by Andalusian nationalists.[4]

He initiated an Andalusian regionalist assembly in Ronda in 1918; the assembly adopted a charter based on the autonomist Constitución Federal de Antequera written in 1883 during the First Spanish Republic.[5] It also embraced the current flag and emblem as national symbols, designed by Infante himself based on various historic Andalusian standards.[6] During the Second Spanish Republic, the Andalucismo was represented by the Junta Liberalista, a federalist political party led by Infante.

Infante was among numerous political figures who were summarily executed by Franco's forces when they took over Seville at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. As a regional autonomist, left-wing activist and an avowed socialist,[2][7] he twice "merited" inclusion on their liquidation list.[8]

His last residence in Coria del Río now hosts the Museum of Andalusian Autonomy.

Youth and education

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He was born on 5 July 1885 in Casares. He was the son of Luis Infante Andrades and Ginesa Pérez Romo.[9] According to the writer José Luis Ortiz de Lanzagorta, his father was a farmer.[10]  Although the grandfather's name in the civil registry is Ignacio Pérez y Salas, he was familiarly known as Ignacio Pérez de Vargas.[11] In 1896 he began studying at the Escuelas Pías de Archidona.[12] He then studied at the Provincial Secondary Education Institute and the College of the Piarists.[13] In 1898 he was forced to abandon his plans to attend university and work as a clerk at the municipal courpreparatory ather. Eventually in 1904 he began the preparatory course for Law at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Granada, and in 1905 he began at the Faculty of Law at the university. He mostly studied independently, only occasionally showing up in classes, but still graduated in 1906,[14] and in 1909 he passed the exam to become a notary. He settled in Cantillana but frequently visited Seville.[15]

Georgism

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Blas Infante met the agricultural engineers Antonio Albendín Orejón and Juan Sánchez Mejía in Cantillana. Albendín, who lived in Ronda, was one of the introducers to Spain of the physiocratic ideas of the American Henry George, including a single land tax. He directed the magazine El impuesto único (The Single Tax), published between 1911 and 1923,  which advocated for Georgist ideas.[16]

Politics

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In 1913 Catalan nationalist Francesc Cambó came to Seville to give a speech. While visiting, he offered financial assistance to Blas Infante to start an Andalusian newspaper, but because there were strings attached, Infante refused. On several other occasions he refused offers to work with Catalan nationalists.[15]

In 1915 he published one of his main works - Ideal Andaluz - which described Andalusian identity as a hybrid of Spanish and Morisco identity. In it he used Andalusia of an example of cultural fusion that was expected to occur more in the future.[17][18] He framed the reconquista as a catastrophe that ended a bright period of cultural splendor.[19]

Infante described himself as a socialist, and had staunchly left-wing beliefs, combined with regionalism and nationalism.[2] His views are also considered an example of agrarian socialism, given Infante's emphasis on the need to free the Andalusian countryside from landowners.[7]

While some scholars such as González de Molina and Sevilla Guzmán described Infante as a separatist, publicly Infante limited his proposals to the creation of extensively autonomous Andalusia within federal or confederal Spain.[20] On 16 June 1917, he gave a speech at the Andalusian Center in Seville where he advocated for a federal republic style of government.[21]

Infante greatly contributed to the development of Andalusian identity, describing Andalusia as a nation with distinct history and unique identity, and outlined land reform, education reform, identity and patriotism as objectives essential for the regeneration of Andalusia. Infante argued that socioeconomic problems of Andalusia were a direct result of colonial policies implemented by Madrid after the Catholic Reconquest in 1492, resulting in regional degradation and isolation of Andalusia. He also idealized the Al-Andalus era of Andalusia, describing it as the "golden age" of Andalusian history and an important marker of regional identity.[20]

However, Infante also defined Andalusians as ethnic Christians and traces Andalusian roots to the pro-Islamic, Christian population.[22] As a left-wing activist, socialist and a republican, Blas Infante was executed by Spanish Nationalists in August 1936, in the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.[8] His ideas contrasted sharply with the fascist Francoists who sought to repress the traces Andalusia's Islamic past.

Francoists claimed that he used the radio in his house to communicate with Communists, but in reality it was just a regular receiving radio.[23]

Research on Andalusian culture

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He frequently emphasized that Andalusia had far more Arab influence than the rest of Spain.[24] He wrote about Arab influence on the famous Spanish Flamenco dance.[25] The Moriscos who fled to the mountains of Andalusia and were protected by Spanish Roma as fellow outcasts, who then picked up elements of Morisco music and dance, which then became adopted by the Spanish.[24]

Death

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Blas Infante was shot by Francoists on the morning of 11 August 1936 at kilometer 4 of the highway from Seville to Carmona. His body was probably buried in the Pico Reja mass grave.[26]

Faith

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Infante was fascinated by Islam and sympathetic to Muslims of North Africa[27] and glorified the Muslim history of Andalusia.[28] He viewed the influence of Islam in Andalusia as contrary with the Europeanization of Spain,[29] and referred to the exiled Moriscos as brothers.[30] His wedding ring had inscription in Arabic.[31] It has been suggested that an existing rumor that he converted to Islam was the result of fascists trying to discredit him and the idea of Andalusian nationalism,[32] and right-wingers often bring up the allegation of his conversion to discredit him.[18] His family told the press that he was an admirer of Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross and donated to the Dominican convent in Seville.[33] Spanish historian Enrique Iniesta counted mentions of 36 saints and 175 theologians (orthodox and heterodox) in his unpublished writings.[34]

Legacy

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While Infante's ideas do not have broad support in modern Andalusia and his work is relatively obscure, he remained revered by Andalusian nationalists as a martyr[35] who view him as the "father of the Andalusian nation" which the Andalusian regional parliament officially proclaimed him in 2010.[18] However, Andalusian nationalism is not nearly as popular as Catalan nationalism.[36]

The Blas Infante Foundation regularly holds events celebrating his memory and promoting his works.[37]

[edit]

The 2003 film Una pasión singular by Antonio Gonzalo features the life of Blas Infante.

Published works

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  • Ideal Andaluz  (in Spanish). 1915 – via Wikisource.
  • La Obra de Costa (1916)
  • La Sociedad de Naciones (with J. Andrés Vázquez, 1917)
  • Manifiesto Andalucista de Córdoba de 1919  (in Spanish). 1919 – via Wikisource.
  • Motamid, último rey de Sevilla (1920)
  • Cuentos de Animales (1921)
  • Los Mandamientos de Dios a favor de los animales (1921)
  • La Dictadura pedagógica (1921)
  • Reelección Fundamental – Primer Volumen – La Religión y la Moral (1921)
  • Orígenes de lo flamenco y secreto del cante jondo (1929–31)
  • La verdad sobre el complot de Tablada y el Estado libre de Andalucía (1931)
  • Cartas Andalucistas de Septiembre de 1935 (1935)
  • Manifiesto a todos los andaluces (1936)

Unpublished works

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  • Fundamentos de Andalucía – 1ª serie de Cartas Andalucistas (unpublished, 1929)
  • El Libro Nuevo (unpublished)
  • Almanzor (unpublished)

References

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  1. ^ (in Spanish) Parliament of Andalusia: Blas Infante, Father of Andalusia
  2. ^ a b c Nardo, Barham R. T. (2021). Andalucía en capas: Reconciling Andalusian Identity with Spanish and European Influence. p. 14.
  3. ^ Cubero, Fernando. El movimiento Georgista y los orígenes del Andalucismo : análisis del periódico "El Impuesto único" (1911-1923. Ronda: Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, 1980.
  4. ^ Public Officials Official Gazette. 29 November 2002 (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 January 2023
  5. ^ Constitución Federal Regional para Andalucía  [Andalusia Regional Federal Constitution] (in Spanish). 1883 – via Wikisource.
  6. ^ (in Spanish) Junta de Andalucía: Symbols of Andalusia
  7. ^ a b Schrijver, Frans (2006). Regionalism after Regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom. Amsterdam University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-90-5629-428-1.
  8. ^ a b Casanova, Julián (2010). The Spanish Republic and Civil War. Translated by Martin Douch. Cambridge University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-511-78963-2.
  9. ^ Lanzagorta 1979, p. 295.
  10. ^ Lanzagorta 1979, p. 24.
  11. ^ Lanzagorta 1979, p. 36.
  12. ^ Lanzagorta 1979, p. 38-39.
  13. ^ Lanzagorta 1979, p. 40.
  14. ^ Lanzagorta 1979, p. 64.
  15. ^ a b Lanzagorta 1979, p. 80.
  16. ^ Juan Antonio Lacomba (2014). "Martín Rodríguez, M. El georgismo en España. Liberalismo social en el primer tercio del siglo XX (Thomson Reutes. Aranazadi, 2014, Pamplona)". Revista de estudios regionales (99): 214–218. ISSN 0213-7585.
  17. ^ Morales, Ed (2019-10-29). Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1-78478-322-8.
  18. ^ a b c Resina 2013, p. 118.
  19. ^ Díaz-Andreu, Margarita; Champion, Timothy (2014-10-24). Nationalism and Archaeology in Europe. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-60513-3.
  20. ^ a b Machin-Autenrieth, Matthew (2013). Andalucía flamenca: Music, Regionalism and Identity in Southern Spain. Cardiff University Press. pp. 120–121.
  21. ^ Lanzagorta 1979, p. 158-160.
  22. ^ Allard, Elisabeth Bolorinos (2016). My Enemy or My Brother? Spanish Representations of Muslim and Jewish Culture during the Colonial Campaigns in Morocco, 1909-1927. University of Oxford. pp. 130–131.
  23. ^ Fernández-Montesinos, Alberto Egea (2010). La Casa de Blas Infante: el legado (in Spanish). Centro de Estudios Andaluces. ISBN 978-84-937855-6-7.
  24. ^ a b Evans, Polly (2007-12-18). It's Not About the Tapas: A Spanish Adventure on Two Wheels. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-42310-8.
  25. ^ Piotrowska, Anna G. (2013-12-03). Gypsy Music in European Culture: From the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Centuries. Northeastern University Press. ISBN 978-1-55553-838-5.
  26. ^ "La verdad histórica del "fallecimiento por fusilamiento" de Blas Infante". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  27. ^ Stallaert, Christiane (1998). Etnogénesis y etnicidad en España: una aproximación histórico-antropológica al casticismo (in Spanish). Anthropos Editorial. ISBN 978-84-922335-7-1.
  28. ^ Tuma, Ali Al (2018-04-17). Guns, Culture and Moors: Racial Perceptions, Cultural Impact and the Moroccan Participation in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-58123-3.
  29. ^ Venegas, Jose Luis (2018-07-15). The Sublime South: Andalusia, Orientalism, and the Making of Modern Spain. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0-8101-3731-8.
  30. ^ Toler, Michael (2012-03-05). "The Andalusian-Maghrebi Cultural Bridge". Tangier American Legation Museum. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  31. ^ Iniesta Coullaut-Valera 2007, p. 321.
  32. ^ "Blas Infante: un laicista masón al que quieren hacer musulmán". lavozdelsur.es (in European Spanish). 2020-09-07. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  33. ^ Sevilla, Diario de (2011-07-30). ""Blas Infante estaría hoy con la razón y con la justicia"". Huelva Información (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-09-15.
  34. ^ Iniesta Coullaut-Valera 2007, p. 226.
  35. ^ Chuse, Loren (2013-10-11). Cantaoras: Music, Gender and Identity in Flamenco Song. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-38211-7.
  36. ^ Valis, Noël (2003-01-16). The Culture of Cursilería: Bad Taste, Kitsch, and Class in Modern Spain. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-8428-1.
  37. ^ "Reclaman que el 'Ideal Andaluz' de Blas Infante no caiga en el olvido". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2023-09-12.

Literature

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Wikisource has original works by or about:
Blas Infante
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