Andreu Nin

Andreu Nin , or Andres Nin (February 4th 1892 - June 20th 1937) was a Spanish revolutionist .

Born in a poor family with El Vendrell in the Province from Tarragone (his/her father was shoe-maker and its country mother), Nin went to live with Barcelona a little before the First World War. He taught some time in a public school and libertarian, before devoting himself to journalism and the policy.

The year 1917 was one year key of its life. Events like the general strike of August, the Russian Revolution or the fights between employers inhabitant of Barcelona and the trade unions, mainly CNT marked it deeply. If, initially, it were integrated in the rows of PSOE, it quickly embraced the cause of the revolutionary trade unionism and joined CNT. After having attended the second congress of this one in 1919, where it then defended its integration in the Third International, he became secretary of the National committee of CNT, substitute Evalio Boal who had been assassinated.

He was elected delegated in 1921 at a clandestine plenary session of CNT to assist with the third congress of the Third International and with the congress founder of the Trade-union Internationale Red. He then became a key character of the two international ones (during this time, CNT left in 1922 the Third International).

He lived, starting from 1921, with Moscow, pertaining for one period to the team of Trotsky. Starting from 1926, it belonged to the left opposition directed by Trotsky to counter the rise of Stalin inside the Communist party of the Soviet Union, and has to give up the Soviet Union in 1930.

At the time of its return in Spain, Nin had a crucial role in May 1931 in the formation of a group of orientation Bolshevik-Leninist, the ICE: Izquierda Communista de España (Left Spanish Communist), group affiliated to the International Opposition of Left. The ICE was a very isolated small group. At that time, Nin had a certain number of dissensions with Trotsky, in particular when Trotsky advised to him to amalgamate this party with Socialist Youths in order to increase the forces at its disposal.

Nin ended by breaking with Trotsky and amalgamating its group with the BOC ( Bloque Obrero there Campesino - Working Block and Peasant) to form POUM (Left working Marxist unification) in 1935.

After the electoral victory of the Spanish Popular front and the beginning of the civil war it was to advise of justice of the Generalitat recently made up, until this station to him is withdrawn because of Stalinist pressures.

Finally, as the tensions antitrotskists were done more obvious, and after the events of May 1937 to Barcelona (where CNT and POUM clashed with the Stalinist ones), Nin is stopped by the political police with the orders of Stalin. Transferred to Valence then with Madrid, he terribly is tortured and finally assassinated the June 20th 1937 with Alcalá de Henares under the orders of the Orlov general, who acted in the name of Stalin, according to documents of the KGB recently exhumed by Jose María Zabala in his book In busca of Andreu Nin . The official version given by the Stalinist ones at the time was that Nin had been released by his/her “friends” of Gestapo.

See too

Left working Marxist unification (POUM)

External bonds

the Foundation Andreu Nin has an important collection of documents concerning the POUM and Andreu Nin.

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