Mercedes Comaposada

Mercè Comaposada i Guillén
Born	(1901-08-14)14 August 1901 Barcelona,Spain
Died	11 February 1994(1994-02-11)(aged 92) Paris,France
Nationality	Catalan
Occupation(s)	Lawyer,teacher
Organization	Mujeres Libres
Other political affiliations	Republican faction Confederación Nacional del Trabajo
Movement	Anarcha-feminism
Opponent	Nationalist faction
Partner	Baltasar Lobo

Mercè Comaposada i Guillén(known in Spanish asMercedes Comaposada Guillén;1901–1994) was aCatalanpedagogue, lawyer, andanarcho-feminist.WithLucía Sánchez SaornilandAmparo Poch y Gascón,she was the co-founder of the libertarian women's organization,Mujeres Libres.

Biography

Mercè Comaposada i Guillén, was born inBarcelonaon 14 August 1901. The daughter of Josep Comaposada, a socialist shoemaker, she grew up in a militant and cultivated environment, learning to type at the age of twelve.

She left school at a very young age to start working as a film editor in a film production company. She later became a member of the Sindicato de Espectáculos Públicos de Barcelona, which belonged to theConfederación Nacional del Trabajo(CNT). Shortly afterwards she went to Madrid to continue her studies in law, taught byAntonio MachadoandJosé Castillejo.At this stage in her life, during which she also trained as a pedagogue in order to teach other women, she metLucía Sánchez Saornil,with whom she had the idea of setting up a libertarian women's group. During the 1930s, Sánchez and Comaposada taught male and female workers, in elementary instruction courses promoted by the CNT in Madrid. But they considered it necessary to make these courses specifically for women, in order to combat existing attitudes ofmisogyny.

In April 1936, together with Lucía Sánchez Saornil andAmparo Poch y Gascón,she founded the feminist organisationMujeres Libres.That same month, Comaposada travelled to Barcelona and met with theAgrupación Cultural Femenina,which she convinced to join the new organisation.TheMujeres Libresgrew rapidly, reaching a membership of more than 20,000 workers and peasants by 1938.

A month later, in May 1936, the first issue of the organisation's journalMujeres Libreswas published. The publication put out 12 issues and was active until 1938. Other women, such asFederica Montseny,Emma GoldmanandCarmen Conde,collaborated in the development of the journal. Comaposada's partner, the sculptorBaltasar Lobo,worked on the journal as an illustrator.

Following the outbreak of theSpanish Civil War,Comaposada continued her work as an educator and her collaboration with the libertarian press. She wrote mainly forTierra y Libertad(published by the FAI),Mujeres Libres(of which she was editor-in-chief) andTiempos Nuevos,where she had a section dealing with subjects ranging from medicine to sexuality.

After the defeat of theRepublicans,she was forced to go into exile inPariswith her partner, under the protection ofPablo Picasso,for whom she worked as a secretary. She also worked as a translator of Spanish authors, especiallyLope de Vega,and as a representative of her partner's artistic work. During the 1960s and 1970s, she continued to collaborate on the publication ofMujeres Libres,Tierra y LibertadandTiempos Nuevos,and joined other magazines such asRuta y Umbral.After the death ofFrancisco Francoin 1975, she considered writing a book and asked veteran women for letters in which they wrote their own experiences. She wrote a manuscript which, after her death, disappeared along with the documentation.

Selected works

• Esquemas(1937)
• Las mujeres en nuestra revolución(1937)
• La ciencia en la mochila(1938)
• Conversaciones cono los artistas españoles de la Escuela de París(1960, asMercedes Guillén)
• Picasso(1973, asMercedes Guillén)

Bibliography

• Ackelsberg, Martha A.(2005) [1991].Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women.Oakland, California:AK Press.ISBN1-902593-96-0.LCCN2003113040.OCLC63382446.
• Kaplan, Gisela(2012).Contemporary Western European Feminism.Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-63681-0.
• Nash, Mary(1995).Defying Male Civilization: Women in the Spanish Civil War.Denver:Arden Press.ISBN0-912869-15-1.LCCN95-18301.