Antonio Ortega (soldier)

Antonio Ortega
Birth name	Antonio Ortega Gutierrez
Born	17 January 1888 Rabé de las Calzadas, Burgos, Spain
Died	15 July 1939 (aged 51) Alicante, Spain
Allegiance	Spanish Republic
Service/branch	Army
Rank	Colonel
Commands held	Civil Governor of Guipuzcoa (1936), Secretary of Security (1937), III Army Corps of the Army of the Centre (1939)
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War Campaign of Gipuzkoa Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War

Antonio Ortega Gutiérrez (1888-1939) was a Spanish Republican military officer and acting president of Madrid Football Club between 1937 and 1938 during the Spanish Civil War; directly involved in the defense of Madrid.

Spanish Civil War

A professional officer of the Spanish Army, he supported the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War. Before the war he was a lieutenant of Carabineros of the Second Spanish Republic stationed in Irun. On 6 August 1936, following the Coup, he was appointed civil governor of Guipuzcoa.^[1] He took command of the Republican forces during the later part of the Campaign of Guipúzcoa after the capture of Augusto Pérez Garmendia at Oiartzun. In 1937 he was appointed secretary of security and joined the Communist Party of Spain(PCE).^[2] He was also, among other things, responsible for the arrest of Andreu Nin^[3] and because of this, was dismissed by the minister of the interior, Julian Zugazagoitia;^[4] eventually being transferred to field command. On March 1939, he was the commander in charge of the III Army Corps of the Army of the Centre and supported Luis Barceló against the National Defence Council (Consejo Nacional de Defensa) during what later became the Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War.^[5] At the end of the war, he was captured by the Nationalists, sentenced to death by a military tribunal and subsequently executed by firing squad in Alicante, Spain on 15 July 1939.^[6]

President of Real Madrid

As President of Madrid Football Club, as Real Madrid were called during the Second Spanish Republic, he acted on behalf of Rafael Sánchez Guerra, a prominent Republican, who was unable to take an active role in managing the club due to the war. Ortega took over as acting president from another Republican, Juan Jose Vallejo. Together with Gonzalo Aguirre and Valero Rivera, Madrid Vice President and Treasurer, respectively, he was among several Real Madrid board members, captured and executed by Franco's Nationalists, following the city of Madrid's fall.^[7][8]

References

1. Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. pp.651-652
2. Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.682
3. Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.883
4. Preston, Paul. (2006). The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, revolution & revenge. Harper Perennial. London. p.262
5. Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.882
6. Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London. p.899
7. Burns, Jimmy. (2012). La Roja: How Soccer Conquered Spain and How Spanish Soccer Conquered the World. Nation Books.
8. Kassimeris, Christos. (2007). European Football in Black and White: Tackling Racism in Football. Lexington Books. p.22

Sources

• Romero, Eladi, Itinerarios de la Guerra Civil española : guía del viajero curioso, Barcelona : Laertes, 2001, 600 p.
• Barruso, Pedro, Verano y revolución. La guerra civil en Gipuzkoa' (julio-septiembre de 1936), Edita: Haramburu Editor. San Sebastián, 1996.
• Pedro Barruso, GIPUZKOA 1936: VERANO Y REVOLUCIÓN, LA GUERRA CIVIL EN GIPUZKOA (Spanish)
  • Pedro Barruso, GIPUZKOA 1936: VERANO Y REVOLUCIÓN, LA GUERRA CIVIL EN GIPUZKOA (Spanish)
• Hugh Thomas (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Modern Library. ISBN 0-375-75515-2.
• Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (2003), Phil Ball.
• List of missing persons http://www.jusap.ejgv.euskadi.net/r47-contmh2/es/contenidos/informacion/listado_personas_desaparecidas/es_memoria/o_listado_personas_desaparecidas.html

Notes