Primo de Rivera, Pilar (1913–1991)

Spanish founder and leader of the Sección Feminina of the Spanish Falange. Born in Madrid, Spain, on November 5, 1913; died in 1991; daughter of Miguel Primo de Rivera (Spanish general who ruled as dictator of Spain from 1923 to 1930 and whose fall led to the Second Republic and the Spanish Civil War) and Casilda Sáenz de Heredia.

Pilar Primo de Rivera was born in Madrid on November 5, 1913, the daughter of Miguel Primo de Rivera and Casilda Sáenz de Heredia . Casilda died when Pilar was a young child. Miguel Primo de Rivera governed Spain as a military dictator under Alphonso XIII from 1923 to 1930. Pilar earned a degree in nursing and became involved in the political activities of her brother, José Antonio Primo de Rivera. In 1933, José Antonio founded the Falange Española, a quasi-fascist movement. The following June, Pilar established the Sección Feminina, a female appendage of the Falange. She played an active role in the demonstrations and political tumult that led up to the Spanish Civil War.

When the war began in July 1936, she sided with Francisco Franco's Nationalists, who sought to overthrow the leftist Republic. She urged Franco to ransom José Antonio, who was held by the Republic, but Franco feared José and the Falange might try to take over the Nationalist movement. Following José Antonio's execution by his jailers, however, Franco united the Falange with the Carlists in April 1937 to create the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de los JONS, the only political party permitted in Nationalist Spain. He also named Pilar Primo de Rivera to head its Sección Feminina, which over-saw social services in Spain and mobilized female support for the war effort. She helped organize the Woman's Social Service in 1937, which obligated all able-bodied single women between 17 and 35 years of age to provide six months of public service. Pilar worked to protect her brother's legacy in other ways. With José Antonio dead, Falangist leaders fell to squabbling among themselves and threatened to compete with the military for leadership of the Nationalist movement. Franco's followers responded by arresting the chief Falangist, Manuel Hedilla, and sentencing him to death in 1937. Pilar interceded with Franco's wife Carmen Polo de Franco to save Hedilla's life.

After the war, Pilar continued to play an active political role, generally in favor of the Falange's social agenda. She served in the Spanish Cortes (Parliament) and was a member of the National Council of Education. Pilar also spoke and wrote about women's role in Spanish society. The Franco regime accorded her many honors, including the Great Cross of Isabella the Catholic (Isabella I ). She died in 1991.

sources:

Payne, Stanley G. Falange: A History of Spanish Fascism. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1961.

Primo de Rivera, Pilar. Recuerdos de una vida. Madrid: Ediciones DYRSA, 1983.

Kendall W. W. , Professor of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah