| Dionisio Ridruejo | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dionisio Ridruejo October 12, 1912 Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma, Soria |
| Died | June 29, 1975 (aged 62) Madrid |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Known for | Political activist |
| Notable works | Cara al Sol , Escrito en España |
| Political party | Falange |
Dionisio Ridruejo Jiménez (born 12 October 1912 in Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma, Soria - died 29 June 1975 in Madrid) was a Spanish poet and political figure within the Falange. He was co-author of the words to the Falangist anthem Cara al Sol.[1]
A close friend of Ramón Serrano Súñer, his tireless work as a propagandist, as well as his short stature and swarthy appearance, earned him the early nickname of the "Spanish Joseph Goebbels".[2] Under Serrano Súñer's influence he was appointed as Minister of Propaganda to the cabinet of Francisco Franco in 1938.[3] A strong Falangist and as a result sometimes in conflict with the military tendency within Francoism, he was censured during the Spanish Civil War by General Álvarez-Arenas for producing propaganda leaflets in the Catalan language, with the military elite deciding that Spain's minority languages should be crushed rather than courted.[4]
Ridruejo's uneasiness with the conservative military elements of Franco's government was to prove his undoing. Thus his dismissal from the post of Propaganda Minister was secured in 1941 by his Cabinet colleague Colonel Valentín Galarza Morante after Ridruejo had published an article in Arriba condemning the hold that he felt the Colonel had over Franco. Galarza used his influence to ensure the dismissal of Ridruejo and he would not return to government thereafter.[5] He was also damaged by the fact that he had been active in support of Nazi Germany as other pro-Nazis such as Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis and Pedro Gamero del Castillo were dismissed at the same time.[6]
In 1955 the disillusioned Ridruejo set up a semi-clandestine club bringing together 'authentic' Falangists with communists, socialists and democrats (such as Enrique Múgica, Fernando Sánchez Dragó, Ramón Tamames, José María Ruiz Gallardón, and others)in a loose alliance united only by opposition to the Franco regime.[7] His opposition activity saw him jailed briefly the following year and again in 1957 when he told the Cuban radical journal Bohemia that he was active in the illegal opposition.[7]
By the early 1960s Ridruejo's opposition activity saw him living in exile in South America.[8] He published his autobiography, Escrito en España in Argentina in 1962 with the book also detailing his conversion from Falangism to social democracy which had occurred around this time.[9] He returned to Spain late in life and died in Madrid in 1975.