Anselmo Lorenzo

Anselmo Lorenzo
Born	21 April 1841 Toledo, Spain
Died	30 November 1914 Barcelona, Spain
Resting place	Cemetery of Montjuïc
Nationality	Spanish
Organization	International Workingmen's Association
Known for	"the grandfather of Spanish anarchism"

Anselmo Lorenzo Asperilla (21 April 1841 – 30 November 1914) was a defining figure in the early Spanish Anarchist movement, earning the often quoted sobriquet "the grandfather of Spanish anarchism," in the words of Murray Bookchin: "his contribution to the spread of Anarchist ideas in Barcelona and Andalusia over the decades was enormous".[1]

His activity in the movement and adherence to Anarchist ideals can be rooted to his meeting and befriending of Giuseppe Fanelli in 1868, a disciple of Mikhail Bakunin recruiting for the International Workingmen's Association.[2] He would later become the subject of Lorenzo's works, along with Tomás González Morago, who an account considered the first Spanish Anarchist.[3]

Paul Lafargue recruited Lorenzo and other Madrilenian printers (such as Pablo Iglesias and Jose Mesa) for the Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA.[4] This association with Lafargue, a son-in-law of Karl Marx, led to the founding of the Madrid Internationalist paper called La Emancipacion, which promoted Marxist ideology.[4] Lorenzo was listed as one of the delegates representing the Spanish Marxists in the International Workingmen's Association (IWMA) London Congress in 1864.[5]

Lorenzo edited the anarchist syndicalist newspaper La Huelga General from 1901 to 1902 with Francisco Ferrer.[6] He died on 30 November 1914 and was laid to rest on the Cemetery of Montjuïc.

References

1. Bookchin, Murray (1977). The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years, 1868–1936. Free Life Editions. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-914156-14-7.
2. Barsky, Robert F. (2007). The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower. MIT Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-262-02624-6.
3. Brenan, Gerald (2014). The Spanish Labyrinth: An Account of the Social and Political Background of the Spanish Civil War, Canto Classics Edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-107-43175-1.
4. Esenwein, George Richard (1989). Anarchist Ideology and the Working-class Movement in Spain, 1868-1898. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 38. ISBN 0-520-06398-8.
5. Holmes, Rachel (2014). Eleanor Marx: A Life. London: A&C Black. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7475-8384-4.
6. Steele, Tom (2007). Knowledge is Power!: The Rise and Fall of European Popular Educational Movements, 1848-1939. Peter Lang. p. 114. ISBN 978-3-03910-563-2.

Further reading

• Álvarez Junco, José (May 1975). "Anselmo Lorenzo y su tiempo". Tiempo de Historia. 1 (6): 45–55.
• Díaz Díaz, Gonzalo (1991). "Lorenzo Asperilla, Anselmo". Hombres y documentos de la filosofía española. Vol. 4. Madrid: CSIC. ISBN 978-84-00-07198-1.
• Lane, A. T. (1995). Biographical Dictionary of European Labor Leaders. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-26456-6.
• Montseny, Federica (1977). Vida y obra de Anselmo Lorenzo. Madrid: Libros Dogal. ISBN 978-84-7463-004-6. OCLC 4189619.
• Thomas, Paul (1985). Karl Marx and the Anarchists (Reprint ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7102-0685-5.
• Villena Espinosa, Rafael (2009). Anselmo Lorenzo (1841-1914): el proletario militante. Toledo: Almud. ISBN 978-84-935656-4-0. OCLC 733645568.