The Life, Trial, and Death of Francisco Ferrer

Francisco Ferrer Guardia, a theoretical anarchist and founder of La Escuela Moderna, was born in 1849 near Barcelona. In 1901, Ferrer opened La Escuela Moderna. The professed goal of the school was to educate the working class in a rational, secular and non-coercive setting, but its high tuition allowed only wealthy middle class students to attend. It was privately hoped that when the time was ripe for revolutionary action, these students would be motivated to lead the working classes. La Escuela Moderna grew rapidly. By 1906, thirty-four schools with over 1,000 students were directly or indirectly influenced by the school and its textbooks. In 1906 an employee of Ferrers publishing firm threw a bomb at King Alphonso XIII's wedding party. Police speculated that Ferrer had encouraged Morral to throw the bomb. Ferrer was arrested, but released a year later, due to insufficient evidence. During Ferrer's incarceration, La Escuela Moderna was shut down and would not open its doors again. Ferrer soon realized, however, that he had lost his ability to influence directly the educational movement in Spain. His old interest in anarcho-syndicalism reemerged, and he began to devote more and more of his time to the Catalan labor movement. In July of 1909, political events in Spain spun out of control. Spontaneous protests broke out in the streets, evolving into a massive general strike. Revolutionary leaders, anxious to seize the moment, were ultimately unprepared and thus lost control of the crowds. The result was five days of mob rule known today as the Tragic Week. On July 28, martial law was declared throughout Spain, and a brutal military suppression continued until September. Anyone deemed dangerous to the government was jailed. Francisco Ferrer was arrested late in September. A hurried trial ensued, in which he was accused of fomenting the insurrection. Ferrer had very little, if anything, to do with the uprising, but false evidence and forced confessions were produced. The government still believed that Ferrer had instigated the assassination attempt on the king in 1906 and wanted revenge. Ferrer was put to death by firing squad on October 13, 1909. Because Ferrer was well known internationally, his execution caused a sensation throughout North America and Western Europe. In Great Britain, George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle protested with Peter Kropotkin and other anarchists. Ferrer was named a martyr for free thought and, by his execution, became one of the most famous of Spanish anarchists.