Aurora Picornell

Spanish political martyr (1912–1937)

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Aurora Picornell

Born	Aurora Picornell Femenias (1912-10-01)1 October 1912 ^[1] Palma, Majorca
Died	5 January 1937(1937-01-05) (aged 24) Porreres, Majorca
Occupation(s)	Seamstress, politician, trade unionist
Organization	International Red Aid
Political party	Communist Party of Spain

Aurora Picornell Femenias (1 October 1912 – 5 January 1937) was a Spanish seamstress, unionist and feminist activist, member of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). She earned the sobriquet of "La Pasionaria mallorquina" ("La Pasionaria of Majorca"). In 1937, she was detained and murdered by Rebel faction forces.

Life

Picornell was born in Palma, Majorca in the El Molinar district on 1 October 1912. She was a seamstress and political activist.

She was the sixth of seven siblings. She became politically active at a young age. At age 14 she left school to begin working as a seamstress.

As a pre-adolescent she was a feminist and was involved in anti-clericalism against the Roman Catholic church.

In 1931, she organized the seamstresses' union in the Balearic Islands. Later she joined the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), in which she was one of the main leaders of their Balearic Federation. At 16 she published her first of many articles in the Communist newspaper Nuestra palabra ("Our Word").

She lived for some time in Valencia, where she married Komintern agent Heriberto Quiñones [es].

In 1934, she helped establish the Communist Party on the island of Menorca. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Majorca fell into the hands of the Francoist rebels after a military coup. Picornell was the first woman arrested in the Casa del Poble ("House of the People", i.e. Party headquarters), and incarcerated in Mallorca's women's prison. Her colleagues tried to negotiate an exchange of prisoners, but before that was achieved she was taken by Falangists to the convent of Montuiri, where she was tortured.

She was murdered on 5 January 1937 ^[1] at the cemetery in Porreres^[2] 30 km from Palma with other seamstresses: Catalina Flaquer Pascual, Antonia Pascual Flaquer, Maria Pascual Flaquer, and Belarmina Gonzalez Rodriguez. They are remembered in Majorca as Les Roges des Molinar ("The Reds of El Molinar [es]").

At age 22 she gave birth to her only daughter, Octubrina Roja.^[3]

Picornell's father Gabriel and two brothers Gabriel and Ignasi were also murdered.^[4] Her husband, who became a leading member of the underground communist party after the war, was detained in 1941 and executed by firing squad in 1942 after enduring months of torture.^[5] Aurora's younger brother Joan died shortly after being liberated from the Dachau concentration camp while her sister Llibertat exiled to Mexico and France.^[4]

Legacy

Josep Articles Quetglas wrote, "Aurora Picornell, escrits 1930-1936". A school, IES Aurora Picornell, is named after her.^[6] A play based on her life has been written by Aina de Cos.^[2] The song 'Aurora' by the metal band Helevorn is about her. ^[7] She is also remembered in a Woman's Trail in Mallorca.^[8]

Books/Biographies

Author: David Ginard i Féron

Aurora Picornell (1912-1937). De la història, al símbol (2016).
Aurora Picornell. Feminismo, comunismo y memoria republicana en el siglo XX (2018).

References

^ ^a ^b Aurora Picornell i Femenias, Gran enciclopèdia catalana, Retrieved 2 September 2016
^ ^a ^b Only When It Rains Archived 11 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, teatremao.com, Retrieved 2 September 2016
^ Torrens, Antoni Janer (2 January 2021). "Aurora Picornell, la construcció d'un símbol". Ara Balears (in Catalan). Retrieved 12 October 2022.
^ ^a ^b Ferriol, Rosa (20 October 2022). "La familia de Aurora Picornell, identificada en la fosa de Son Coletes de Manacor, fue una de las más represaliadas del franquismo". Diario de Mallorca. Prensa Ibérica.
^ Díaz Alonso, Diego (15 December 2023). "La asombrosa vida de Heriberto Quiñones, héroe antifascista, falso culpable, estalinista y víctima del estalinismo". Nortes.
^ IES Aurora Picornell, Retrieved 2 September 2016
^ Helevorn Post "Aurora" Lyric Video Archived 11 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 11 December 2022
^ "111 Places on Mallorca that You Shouldn't Miss". Issuu: 44. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2016.