Antonio Fournerakis : brief biography

Apparently Fournarakis (or Fournarakis, Fornerakis, Furnerakis) had been active in the anarchist movement in Argentina (he is sometimes referred to as “the Argentinean”), Bolivia and (some say) Brazil before arriving in Galicia (no date). There he was the director of Brazo y Cerebro newspaper. He was active in the December 1933 anarchist uprising and in the run-up to it represented the El Ferrol anarchist groups at a plenum in La Coruña. The Peninsular Committee credited him with the FAI’s having a foothold in La Coruña at all.

There were apparently many anarchists (including defence cadres) unimpressed by the FAI. Julian Carballo, the organiser of the defence cadres in Galicia said the FAI was not up to the mark. A letter from the FAI Peninsular Committee refers to Fournerakis and his group having broken away from the FAI, on the assumption that his/its presence was keeping many others out of the organisation, but the Peninsular Committee was forced to admit that the promised/expected influx into the FAI never happened.

Fournerakis reverted to organising resistance after July 1936 and worked on behalf of the FAI. He was about 40 when killed by the Civil Guard on 10/7/37 in La Coruña.

For more on him, see Anarchism In Galicia : Organisation, Resistance and Women in the Underground