Inspirational Quotes by Dolores Ibarruri (Spanish Communist Leader)

Dolores Ibárruri Gómez (1895–1989) was a Spanish communist politician and the most visible symbol leader of the Republicans (loyalists) during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39.) Known to the world as “La Pasionaria” (the “Passionflower,”) a nom de plume that became identified with her indomitable will and gift as an eloquent propagandist and as a passionate orator, coining the Republican battle cry, “No pasarán!” (“They shall not pass!”)

Born in Gallarta, near Bilbao, Spain, Ibárruri joined the newly formed Spanish Communist Party in 1920. After a tumultuous career in which she was imprisoned several times for political activities, she arose as a Communist deputy in the Republican parliament. She had evolved into a national figure by the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936.

When Francisco Franco came to power in 1939, Ibárruri escaped to the Soviet Union by plane. She represented her party at Kremlin congresses until politician Santiago Carrillo succeeded her as secretary-general in 1960. She opposed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. In 1977, Ibárruri returned to Spain after the Spanish government again legalized the Communist Party. She was re-elected to her deputy seat in the Spanish parliament but resigned because of ill health.

Ibárruri’s memoirs are El único camino (1962; They Shall Not Pass, 1966.)

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