Pepita Carpena (1919-2005)

CIRA Marseilles is saddened to announce the death in Marseille on 5 June of Pepita Carpena.

Pepita Carpena (Josefa Carpena Amat) was born in Barcelona in 1919. A working class anarchist, she took part in the Spanish Revolution at a very early age, in the ranks of the CNT, the Iberian Federation of Libertarian Youth (FIJL) and the Mujeres Libres movement. Franco's victory forced her into exile. In Marseilles, she participated in CNT activities and then was involved with the CIRA. She was the CIRA's coordinator from 1988 to 1999.

Pepita Carpena - Outline Biography

Between April 1992 and June 19993 Pepita Carpena drafted her memoirs in Spanish. The title she gave them was Toda una vida: mémoires. Photocopies of the text were distributed in 1998. It was later published as De toda la vida (a 72 page pamphlet) by Éditions du Monde libertaire and Alternative Libertaire (Brussels) in 2000 as part of the Graine d'ananar series.

Pepita contributed to two anthologies. In Mujeres libres: luchadoras libertarias (Fundación Anselmo Lorenzo, 1999, 91pp.) she had two contributions included - 'Vivencias' (pp. 73-78) and 'Solidaridad fraterna' (pp. 79-82). The book was translated into French as Mujeres libres: des femmes libertaires en lutte (Los-las Solidarios-solidarias, 2000, 329pp). In the minutes of the Barcelona symposium Anarquisme: exposició internacional (Fundació d'Estudis llibertaris i anarco-sindicalistes, 1994, 592pp) she spoke in the debate on Feminism & post-Feminism (pp. 340-377)

He testimony can also be found in two of the Bulletins from the CIRA in Marseilles - 1886:1936 et quelques autres anniversaires (No 26-27, 1986, 120 pp.) and Les anarchistes espagnols dans la tourmente (1939-1945) (No 29-30, 1989, 199pp.)

Pepita Carpena also features in two films about the Spanish Revolution - Richard Prost's Un autre futur (1988-1997) and De toda la vida by Lisa Berger and Carol Mazer (1986). Her photograph also features in Erick Zonka's Le petit voleur (1999).

She was a contributor to the Spanish and French anarchist press: Cenit, CNT, Le Combat syndicaliste, Ideas-Orto and Solidaridad Obrera.

Translated by: Paul Sharkey.