| Public and political figure of Spain Date of Birth: Country: Spain |
Buonaventura Durruti was born in León, Spain in He began working at a young age, first as a locksmith and later in the mines. In , during the General Strike organized by the Union General de Trabajadores (UGT), Durruti emerged as a prominent activist. The government's violent suppression of the strike, resulting in numerous deaths and imprisonments, forced Durruti into exile in France.
In exile, Durruti worked in Paris, where he embraced anarchism and joined the National Confederation of Labor (CNT). In , with Juan García Oliver and Francisco Ascaso, he co-founded the "Solidarios" group. They carried out a failed assassination attempt on King Alfonso XIII and later killed Cardinal Soldevila in revenge for the murder of CNT activist Salvador Seguí. Arrested after these actions, Durruti and his comrades escaped and fled to Argentina and Chile. In Chile, they organized the first bank robbery in the country to fund the liberation of imprisoned anarchists in Spain.
Durruti traveled extensively throughout Europe and Latin America, spreading anarchist ideas. He met with Ukrainian Nestor Makhno in Paris and was arrested and expelled from numerous countries. In , he settled in Belgium and remained there for two years.
Durruti returned to Spain in after the proclamation of the Second Republic. He became a leading figure in the anarchist movement, particularly within the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI) and CNT. His influence led to a split within the CNT, resulting in the formation of the Syndicalist Party.
In the lead-up to the Spanish Civil War, Durruti played a significant role in coordinating anarchist resistance to the military rebellion led by Francisco Franco. With his group "Nosotros" (formerly the "Solidarios"), he fought against General Goded's attempted coup in Barcelona. During the battle for the Atarazanas barracks, his close friend and comrade, Francisco Ascaso, was killed.
On November 19, , while leading a column against Franco's forces near Madrid, Durruti was shot and killed. His death dealt a major blow to the anarchist movement. He remains an iconic figure in the annals of anarchism and left a lasting legacy of revolutionary spirit and social justice.