Lluís Companys - Barcelona, Spain
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 23.480 E 002° 10.777
31T E 431414 N 4582524
A memorial to the former President of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, who was executed on April 21, 1940 after the Spanish Civil War, is located at the corner of Pg. de Lluís Companys and Ronda de Sant Pere in Barcelona, Spain.
Waymark Code: WMVDH1
Location: Cataluña, Spain
Date Posted: 04/05/2017
Views: 6
A memorial to President Lluís Companys, who was executed by firing squad, was created by sculptor Francisco López Hernández and installed on April 21, 1998. On the left side of the memorial is a painted bronze plaque with a medallion depicting an image of the slain politician and the following inscription:
LLUIS COMPANYS
1882 1940
PRESIDENT DE
LA GENERALITAT
DE CATALUNYA
AFUSELLAT AL
CASTELL DE MONTJUÏC
LLUIS COMPANYS
1882 1940
PRESIDENT OF
THE AUTONOMOUS GOVERNMENT
OF CATALONIA.
SHOT IN
THE CASTLE OF MONTJUÏC
Lluís Companys was born in El Tarròs, Spain, on June 21, 1882. He studied law and became the leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) political party. He was the 1st President of the Parliament of Catalonia from December 14, 1932 until June 20, 1933. He then became 4th Acting President of the Catalan Republic from October 6, 1934 until October 7, 1934 and then the 123th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from December 25, 1933 until his execution on October 15, 1940.
On October 6, 1934 Companys led a Catalan Nationalist uprising against the center and right-wing republican government, and proclaimed the Catalan State (Estat Català) within the Spanish Federal Republic. He was arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison. When the left-wing coalition Frente Popular was victorious in the election on 1936, he was set free by the new government and the Catalan government was restored.
In 1939 he was exiled to France. He was arrested on August 13, 1940 in German occupied La Baule-les-Pins near Nantes, France and extradited by Nazi German authorities to the Spanish government in Madrid. He was convicted of rebellion, jailed, tortured, and executed in Montjuïc Castle in Barcelona on October 15, 1940.
The grieving female figure holding a handkerchief is Conxita Julià who was 14 years old when she wrote poems and letters to President Companys when he was spending time in prison after the October 1934 uprising against the right-wing government of Spain that took place in Catalonia. Upon his release in 1936, Conxita was among the crowd who greeted him when he returned to Barcelona. Companys was introduced to her and gave her the handkerchief he carried everywhere with him in his breast pocket as a keepsake. Conxita Julià, who is still alive, was present at the unveiling of the monument.