Michela Cimbalo succeeded in a very difficult operation. He wrote a
beautiful, passionate and exciting biography, keeping together, inperfect balance, the personal life, political militancy and poeticparable of Lucía Sánchez Saornil, whose history is representative of thepolitical and social history of Spain between the end of the nineteenthcentury, the advent of Francoism and the international context. ---- Forthis reason, it is worth highlighting, first of all, the documentaryexcavation, the frequenting of the most disparate sources and theability to subject them to criticism, to make them "speak" in the wordsof Marc Bloch.It is a dense work for which it is impossible here to convey itsrichness and the multiple paths that open up, in practice, with eachchapter. First, the context of Lucía's youth. A situation similar to thecontemporary realities of other countries and which, in some ways,presents typical phenomena of moments of important transformation in theyears preceding the First World War: internal migrations in a context ofchaotic growth and a development path that is detailed by capturing thesocially relevant original traits.Here Lucía's poetic, political and gender militancy develops in whichher plans intertwine but each retains its own specificity. This aspectis masterfully captured by the author in reference to the male pseudonymwith which Lucía publishes her first works, which embodies thepossibility of writing in relation to erotic themes, concealing, in agame of mirrors, her own homosexuality, but also capable of bringing outthat "we" which would later be characteristic of his political publications.Lucía's thoughts on the female issue, or gender as we would say today,and her original, articulated, sometimes even contradictory gaze areimpressive for their modernity and complexity: aspects that MichelaCimbalo underlines with extreme philological accuracy.The stigmatization of the behavior of male anarchists, revolutionariesin the social context but not in the family context, opened up a strongcontradiction in the movement itself, with tones that, indeed, seem toanticipate the feminist movements of the 1970s by many decades.Demonstrating the total regression that fascism brought about.Obviously it is impossible not to talk about the magazine "MujeresLibres" that Lucía founded and whose first issue came out in May 1936.In this magazine Lucía Sánchez poured her ideas relating to the classstruggle, to culture and, as is evident from title, to the battle forfemale autonomy.The magazine was born with some fixed points: to be made only by womenfor women and to aim at a wider audience. This avoided the explicit useof terms such as "anarchism", which could have alienated potentialreaders. The graphic, innovative and captivating aspect with which theeditorial product was presented was not secondary.In the "short century" that Lucía goes through for the most part, shewill enter a very important figure, who will then be her companion untilher end: América "Mery" Barroso with whom she will also experience thetragic phases of the republican defeat. The pages dedicated to the"welcome" that France reserved for Spanish refugees are impressive andthe fear of falling into anachronisms sometimes gives way when comparingour times and those of over 80 years ago.But the story does not end with the exile and continues with the returnto Franco's Spain. In a brutal context in which Lucía and Mery survivewith extreme difficulty.In the last phase of her life, her poetic writings change tone and veertowards a twilight with the awareness of the end of her human journey.And that "we" turns into an "I" in one of her last poignant poems.Lucía's life was that of an anarchist militant who fully represents the1900s, as a century of great political and social struggles. This isdemonstrated by his declination of the gender question within classconflict and not in a liberal horizon (the positions relating to the"right to vote" are illuminating).Michela Cimbalo deserves double credit: that of having reconstructed thestory not only of a woman, but of an entire historical universe and ofhaving brought to Italy a story of a country so close to us and whichsaw the dress rehearsal in 1936 of the clash between fascism andanti-fascism.Alternativa Libertaria/FdCA Il Cantiere #19 settembre 2023ilcantiere@autistici.org http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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