Dolores Ibárruri (1895-1989) was a fiery leftist activist during the Spanish Civil War, and best known by her battle name, “La Pasionaria.”
Dolores Ibárruri (1895-1989) was a fiery leftist activist during the Spanish Civil War, and best known by her battle name, “La Pasionaria.”
This month, we’re highlighting Women of Resistance. Whether fighting tyranny, oppression, sexism, racism, reproductive control, or any number of other ills, these women created paths for change.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
This month on Womanica, we’re highlighting women who led extraordinary lives of resistance. Whether fighting tyranny, oppression, sexism, racism, reproductive control, or any number of other ills, they created paths for change.
Today, we are talking about one of the founding members of the Spanish Communist Party. She was a fiery leftist activist during the Spanish Civil War. And she was best known by her battle name, “La Pasionaria.”
Please welcome Dolores Ibárruri.
Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez was born in December 1895 in Gallarta, a mining town in Spain. Her father was a miner and Dolores was one of eleven children. Her mother was devoutly Catholic. And despite Dolores’s rebellious nature, she remained committed to the faith for much of her young life.
In her later years, as she was writing her memoir, Dolores recalled one of her first memories: a general strike. She remembered the way the workers’ wives used their bodies to barricade trains, keeping the business owners from breaking the strike. She was only seven years old, but this early experience stuck with her: uprising in the face of struggle and poverty, and particularly the power of the women.
As a child Dolores had wanted to become a teacher, but her family couldn’t afford it. She left school when she was 15 to work – first as a seamstress and then as a maid.
In 1915, Dolores married a miner and socialist activist Julián Ruiz. Their marriage was not a happy one. She later described it as “joyless, dismal, pain-ridden thralldom.” She often wrote about the parallels between her work as a maid and her role as wife. Both were oppressive to her.
Julián did introduce Dolores to working class politics and Marxist literature. It was at this point in her life that she abandoned her Catholic roots and began her transformation into an antifascist revolutionary.
Dolores began to write for the local miner’s paper, El Minero Vizcaíno. She adopted the pen name “La Pasionaria,” which translates to passionflower. The name stuck.
In 1921, she and Julián joined the nascent Spanish Communist Party. Dolores worked alongside her male comrades, and she also made sure that women were welcome. She even founded an organization for women fighting against fascism.
Meanwhile, Spain was becoming an increasingly politically divided country. It was facing an economic crisis. And many Spaniards were feeling oppressed by their dictatorial government – which the Catholic monarchy supported. That came to a head in 1931. Democracy was reinstated, and the Second Republic was established. Leftist Republicans gained power, and Dolores moved to Madrid to help organize alongside the workers movements there.
The new government was tumultuous. Fascism was brewing and on July 18th, 1936, General Francisco Franco led a military uprising. That was the start of the Spanish Civil War.
Dolores immediately urged Spanish Republicans to resist. In a radio broadcast she declared They shall not pass!”, or “no pasarán” in Spanish. It became the anti-fascist rallying cry.
Throughout the war, Dolores visited the troops and encouraged them to keep fighting. She met with Communist leadership. She spoke frequently on the radio, providing comfort and trying to keep up morale. But what she became most known for were her speeches. She gave impromptu, forceful addresses. At times, so close to the battlefront that she had to project over the drone of artillery fire.
In 1939, the war ended in a victory for the fascists. Dolores fled the country. First to Algeria. Then she stopped in France, before being ordered to Moscow. Dolores spent the next thirty-eight years in Russia.
During her time in Moscow, Dolores was well-respected by the Soviet regime and she became close to the leaders, including Joseph Stalin. She also met other Communist leaders including Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh. In 1942, she assumed the position of general secretary of the Spanish Communist party. She also took on the informal role of being a mother to Spanish exiles. In 1960, Dolores was named honorary president of the Spanish Communist Party, and held onto that title until her death.
Two years after Francisco Franco died, Dolores returned to Spain. Crowds of people welcomed her home. That same year, in 1977, the Communist party was made legal in Spain so they could register as an official political party.
In 1989, days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dolores passed away. She was 93 years old. Tens of thousands of mourners and admirers paid their respects at her funeral in Madrid.
All month we’re highlighting women who led lives of resistance. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!