Brief biographical information about Spanish anarchist and anti-Franco guerrilla movement fighter Francisco Denis Diez, or 'Catala'.
Francisco Denis Diez 'Catala'
Francisco Denis Diez, 'Catala'
Born 1898 - Leon, Spain, died 3 Jun 1949 - Spain
Francisco Denis Diez, nicknamed 'Catala', was born in Leon in 1898. An anarchist, he fought in the Spanish Civil War and was a commissar for his battalion, the 121st mixed brigade. An accomplished guide, after the victory of the Francoists, from 1943 he undertook between France and Spain, courier missions for the exiled Libertarian Movement, without ever suffering the slightest mishap. After innumerable such journeys he crossed into Spain on the 19th May 1949.
He was arrested close to Gironella while on his way to Manresa. On 3rd June 1949 in order to avoid being tortured during questioning, he took a cynanide capsule he had hidden in a button on his clothes. He was older than many partisans being then 51.
Edited by libcom from the pamphlet The Anarchist Resistance to Franco - Biographical notes, by Antonio Tellez. £2, published by the Kate Sharpley Library.
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