Joaquín Pérez Navarro 1907-2006

The Kate Sharpley Library collective are sad to report the death but also proud to mark the life of Joaquín Pérez Navarro, the last of the 'Friends of Durruti' group which challenged the 'collaborationist' line which the CNT adopted during the Spanish Civil War.

Joaquín fought in the July resistance to the military coup (which began the Spanish Revolution), on the Aragon front, and in the Barcelona Maydays of 1937 which were the last major attempt to defend the revolution.

He was sentenced to death by the Stalinists in 1938, later interned in France, and escaped to England in 1940. In England he worked in construction and also as a waiter. Throughout his exile he maintained he commitment to and involvement with the anarchist movement. His coffin was covered with the red and black flag of the CNT.

An obituary by Nick Heath was published in the Guardian Tuesday September 19, 2006 (used to produce the paragraphs above), and a biography was published in KSL Bulletin 43. Guillamón's book on the Friends of Durruti group is available from us.