Valentín González

Valentín González González (4 November 1904 – 20 October 1983), popularly known as El Campesino (the Peasant), was a Spanish Republican military commander during the Spanish Civil War.

For the Mexican Olympic athlete, see Valentín González (athlete). For the Cuban baseball player, see Valentín González (baseball).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is González and the second or maternal family name is González.

Valentín González
Birth nameValentín González González
Nickname(s)El Campesino
Born(1904-11-04)4 November 1904
Malcocinado, Badajoz, Spain
Died20 October 1983(1983-10-20) (aged 78)
Madrid, Spain
AllegianceSpanish Republic
BranchSpanish Republican Army
Years of service1936–1939
RankLieutenant colonel
Commands held
  • 10th Mixed Brigade
  • 46th Division
ConflictSpanish Civil War

Life

Spanish Civil War

Born in Malcocinado, Badajoz, González worked as a miner and was a member of the Communist Party, establishing one of the first militia units to counter Francisco Franco's Nationalist Army upon the outbreak of the Civil War. As a brigade commander, González personally took part in all of the major actions that occurred during the Nationalists' assault on Madrid in 1936. He also commanded formations during the battles of the Corunna Road (December 1936),[1] the Jarama, and Guadalajara (March 1937).[2]

In the summer of 1937, he led the 46th Division in the Battle of Brunete.[3] Heavily promoted as a heroic figure by Soviet propaganda, González was accused by other officers in the Ejercito Popular of being brutal in his treatment of his men, unsuited for modern battle, and an egomaniac.[4]

He led his men in the Battle of Belchite,[5] the Battle of Teruel,[6] and Catalonia throughout the war, before being forced to emigrate to the Soviet Union upon the Nationalist victory in 1939.

Soviet Union

Along with other exiled Spanish Republican commanders, he was enrolled in the Frunze Military Academy but was expelled for incompetence. [7] He was later imprisoned in Vorkutlag Gulag labor camp, along with many other Spanish Communists. There he worked as a brigadier of miners. Following this, he was transferred to several other camps and eventually he escaped and fled the Soviet Union across the Iranian border in 1949.[8][9]

In 1951 he published an autobiography, Vida y muerte en la URSS.

After the Spanish transition to democracy in 1978, he returned to live in Spain. He died in Madrid.

References

Footnotes
  1. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p. 477.
  2. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p. 581.
  3. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p. 691.
  4. "Orto y ocaso de Valentín González, el Campesino". 20 December 2013.
  5. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p. 701.
  6. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p. 773.
  7. "Vida y muerte de Valentín González". 31 March 2008.
  8. Thomas, Hugh. (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.924
  9. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr (1973). The Gulag Archipelago, 1918–1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, III–IV. Harper & Row. p. 186.

Bibliography
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