Benita Uribarrena Bollaín

Benita Uribarrena Bollaín (Durango, 16 March 1922 – Le Soler, 12 October 2011) was a member of the Communist Party of Spain and the Antifascist Women Union. She took part in the French Resistance during the Second World War.[1][2]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Uribarrena and the second or maternal family name is Bollaín.
Benita Uribarrena Bollaín
Born(1922-03-16)March 16, 1922
Durango, Spain
DiedOctober 12, 2011(2011-10-12) (aged 89)
Le Soler, France
NationalitySpanish
Political partyCommunist Party of Spain
Parents
  • Santiago Uribarrena Munitxa (father)
  • Benita Bollaín Bilbao (mother)

Early life and Civil War

Her mother, Benita Bollaín Bilbao, was a communist and owned a press kiosk in the Ezkurdi place in Durango, Spain, which earned her the nickname of "Benita the Journalist". She was the first to announce the near proclamation of the II Republic in the town and was detained in a kennel for it.[1][2]

Her father, Santiago Uribarrena Munitxa, a socialist activist, was a railway worker. After the strikes of October 1934, the Civil Guard arrested him and forced him to get into a river to turn in weapons, getting sick and dying a few days later. His funeral was celebrated on 30 December 1934, which was the first civil funeral in Durango.[1][2]

Benita was the youngest of four siblings. After the bombing of Durango on 31 March 1937, she was evacuated together with one of her sisters and her mother. They arrived in France in June 1937 with the Habana ship.[1][2]

Exile

In France, she worked at a hotel and started her political activity in the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). She participated as a clandestine courier and guided people who fled Spain through the Pyrénées-Orientales border.[1][2]

In 1944, she joined the French Resistance. She was arrested and imprisoned for one month until the liberation of France.[1][2]

Uribarrena lived most of her life in Le Soler. Among other jobs, she was employed by Pau Casals, Catalan republican also living in exile.[1]

Recognition

In 2000, she was decorated as a member of the resistance.[1]

On 6 October 2017, the City of Durango inaugurated a public park in her name.[3]

References
  1. Gorriti, Iban (29 October 2019). "Dos mujeres vizcainas, clandestinas de la historia". Deia (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  2. "Benita Uribarrena Bollaín". Durango 1936 Kultur Elkartea (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  3. "INAUGURADO EL PARQUE ABIERTO AL PUEBLO 'BENITA URIBARRENA' · Durango es más antifascista desde hoy". Mugalari Kultura. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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