Manuel Gómez del Valle, Poet and Journalist Shot in 1936
Manuel Gómez del Valle (Havana, 1906 – Ourense, 1936) was a journalist, poet and teacher; arrested in Xinzo de Limia after the July 1936 coup, he was shot in Ourense on 11 August.
- Born
- Havana, 1906
- Death
- Ourense, 11 August 1936
- Profession
- journalist, poet and teacher
- Link to A Limia
- arrested in Xinzo; his mother was murdered in Mosteiro de Ribeira
Manuel Gómez del Valle was born in Havana in 1906, the son of Galician emigrants, and died by firing squad in Ourense on 11 August 1936. He was a journalist, poet and teacher [1].
Life and work
He settled in Ourense in 1918, where he completed secondary school, and later returned to Cuba, where he began his journalistic career; he travelled through several American countries and was imprisoned in Venezuela. Back in Galicia he was a teacher in Amoeiro and Vilamarín and contributed to La Zarpa, El Soviet, El Pueblo Gallego and Escuela del Trabajo. His poetry (Rebeldía, Poema, Manifiesto pastoril a los niños pobres del campo) appeared in Heraldo de Galicia, Cristal and Vieiros. In June 1936 he took part in the campaign for a «yes» vote on the Statute of Autonomy of Galicia [1].
Arrest in Xinzo and death
When the coup of 18 July 1936 occurred, Gómez del Valle and the socialist Fernando Cordón García, a customs official in Verín, went to A Gudiña to join anyone willing to resist the uprising. According to Galipedia, they were arrested in Xinzo de Limia by the Civil Guard on 21 July and taken to Ourense, where they entered prison on the 24th. According to testimony gathered by Edelmiro Martínez Cerredelo, at the arrest the Falangists tied them to a tree at the bend opposite the Praza Maior to shoot them, but the neighbours protested and some women begged them not to kill them, and they were taken to the jail in Xinzo and then to Ourense. A summary court martial sentenced them to death and they were shot on 11 August 1936 at the Campamento de San Francisco in Ourense [1][2].
His family
His mother, María del Valle Lozano, was arrested for requesting a commutation of the sentence and murdered in October 1937 in Mosteiro de Ribeira (see María del Valle Lozano); his brother Ricardo, forced to fight on the Francoist side, was murdered at the end of the war, according to Galipedia, by a Falangist after the capture of Valencia [1]. Antón Tovar dedicated the story «A grande ilusión» to Manuel and his mother [1].
Frequently asked questions
When and where was he shot? On 11 August 1936 at the Campamento de San Francisco in Ourense [1].
Links
Sources
- «Manuel Gómez del Valle», Galipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Gómez_del_Valle
- «Las mártires de Xinzo de Limia, asesinadas por los franquistas en 1937», Vía Lethes. https://vialethes.es/martires-xinzo-limia-1937
You may also like
Notable personOlimpia Valencia López, the First Woman in Galicia to Graduate in MedicineBorn in Baltar in 1898, Olimpia Valencia was the first Galician woman to graduate in Medicine (1925) and in 1928 opened a general medicine…
Notable personAntón Tovar, the Poet of A Pereira (Rairiz de Veiga)Antón Tovar Bobillo (A Pereira, Rairiz de Veiga, 1921 – Ourense, 2004) was an existentialist poet in Galician and Spanish, honorary member…
Notable personCarlos Casares, the Writer Who Grew Up in Xinzo de LimiaCarlos Casares (Ourense, 1941 – Vigo, 2002) spent his childhood in Xinzo de Limia, between Lamas and Sabucedo; he was a novelist, RAG…
Notable personAlfredo Nan de Allariz, Poet and Playwright from Xinzo in HavanaAlfredo Fernández, «Nan de Allariz», was born in Xinzo de Limia (1874 or 1875) and died in Madrid in 1927; poet, playwright and composer,…
People of A LimiaHistorical Figures of A Limia: A TimelineTimeline of historical figures linked to A Limia, from Roman times to the 20th century: Limicians of Rome, Hidatius, counts, medieval…
Notable personCástor Méndez Brandón, Baritone and Folk-Song Poet Born in XinzoCástor Méndez Brandón (Xinzo de Limia, 1864 – Celanova, 1920) was a lawyer, baritone at the Teatro Real in Madrid, poet and mayor of…
