Rafael Sánchez Mazas (18 February 1894 – October 1966) was aSpanishnationalist writer and a leader of theFalange, a far-right political movement created in Spain before theSpanish Civil War.
Sánchez Mazas received a law degree at theReal Colegio de Estudios Superiores de María Cristina,El Escorial and in 1915 publishedPequeñas memorias de Tarín. He then wrote for the magazineHermes and the newspapersABC,El Sol andEl Pueblo Vasco. His work brought him toMorocco in 1921 (forEl Pueblo Vasco) and Rome in 1922 (forABC). He lived in Italy for seven years and married Liliana Ferlosio. While there he identified with the developingfascist movement.
Returning to Spain in 1929, he became an advisor forJosé Antonio Primo de Rivera, the main ideologist of theFalange. In 1933, he helped to create the weekly newspaperEl Fascio, which was banned by the authorities after its second issue was published.
After the creation ofFalange Española on 29 October 1933, Sánchez Mazas was appointed a member of the council, and he remained an active member up until the breakout of theCivil War (July 1936-April 1939). In February 1934, he wroteOración por los muertos de Falange. He also co-wroteCara al Sol, the anthem ofFalange Española.
Sánchez Mazas was arrested and imprisoned inMadrid in March 1936, as theFalange was outlawed. He was given a short leave on the occasion of the birth of his fourth son, but he failed to report back and instead took uppolitical asylum at theChileanEmbassy in Madrid. In 1937 he attempted to flee the country, but was arrested inBarcelona in November. Confined in theprison-shipUruguay until 24 January 1939, he was taken for execution with about fifty other inmates to the Monastery of Santa Maria del Collell inGirona.
The execution was carried out on 30 January, but as the squad fired at the prisoners Sánchez Mazas leapt out of the group and escaped into the forest. A manhunt was organised and he was found hiding under some bushes shortly after. However, theRepublican soldier who found him decided not to report him and spared his life. After a few days he joined theNationalist lines.
As one of thecamisas viejas (literally "old shirts", referring to Falangists from before the Civil War), Sánchez Mazas was appointed toFrancisco Franco's cabinet of 8 August 1939 as aminister without portfolio and vice-president of the Junta Política.[1]
When Spanish troops occupied internationally administeredTangier in June 1940, Sánchez Mazas made a speech stressing the Spanish character of the city. His addition of nationalist rhetoric to a politically delicate situation earned him a severe dressing down from Franco's brother-in-law and fellow minister,Ramón Serrano Suñer, who later claimed to have been so angry that he tried to punch Sánchez Mazas in the face.[2]
In 1940, he was appointed a member of theReal Academia Española but failed to attend his inauguration ceremony.
His life story inspiredJavier Cercas to writeSoldados de Salamina, a novel published in 2001. A movie of the same name was directed byDavid Trueba. His sonsRafael Sánchez Ferlosio andChicho Sánchez Ferlosio and his grandsonMáximo Pradera are known artists.
Media related toRafael Sánchez Mazas at Wikimedia Commons
