José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange (Spanish: [xoˈse βwenaβenˈtuɾa ðuˈruti ðuˈmaŋge]; 14 July 1896 – 20 November 1936) was a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist militant and a leading figure in Spanish anarchism before and during the Spanish Civil War. As a prominent member of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) and the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI), Durruti was a key participant in the Spanish Revolution of 1936, and is remembered as a hero and martyr by the anarchist movement.
Originally a mechanic and trade unionist from León, Durruti was radicalized by state repression of the labor movement. In the 1920s, he became a leader of the anarchist affinity group Los Solidarios, which carried out bank robberies, termed "expropriations", to fund their revolutionary activities, as well as assassinations of those they held responsible for the oppression of the working class. Forced into exile, he coordinated militant activities from France and engaged in a series of expropriations across Latin America with the group Los Errantes. After returning to Spain with the proclamation of the Republic in 1931, he became one of the primary organizers of the CNT's insurrectionist wing, leading several unsuccessful uprisings for which he was repeatedly imprisoned and deported.
At the outbreak of the Civil War in July 1936, Durruti was a key figure in defeating the Nationalist military uprising in Barcelona. He subsequently organized and led the Durruti Column, one of the largest and most famous anarchist militias, which fought on the Aragon front. There, alongside combat operations, he helped implement libertarian communism in the controlled territories. In November 1936, as Nationalist forces laid siege to Madrid, he led his column to the capital to aid in its defense. On 19 November, he was mortally wounded by a gunshot while fighting in the Casa de Campo park. The circumstances of his death are disputed, with historians debating whether he was killed by enemy fire, friendly fire, or treachery.
Durruti's death was a significant blow to the anarchist movement and the Republican war effort. His funeral procession in Barcelona drew hundreds of thousands of mourners in one of the largest public demonstrations in the city's history. He became an enduring symbol of the revolutionary spirit of Spanish anarchism, praised by anarchists for his ideological conviction, leadership, and personal dedication. His legacy influenced later anarchist groups, such as the Friends of Durruti Group, and he remains one of the most iconic figures of the Spanish Civil War.
José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange was born on 14 July 1896, in the Santa Ana neighbourhood of León; he was the second of eight children, born to Santiago Durruti and Anastasia Dumange. Durruti began his primary education at the age of five; his teacher described him as a mischievous but good-natured child. Durruti later remarked that he had been made into a rebel at an early age. At the age of six, in 1903, he witnessed the arrest of his father during a tanners' strike. Led by his uncle Ignacio, the strike lasted for nine months before it was finally defeated by the employers. Durruti's family was left destitute afterwards, as many of its members were boycotted or blacklisted for supporting the strike. Despite their limited means, Durruti's parents endeavoured to provide him and his siblings with an education. During his secondary education, although his teacher had seen intellectual potential in him, Durruti proved to be a below-average student. His grandfather Pedro had hoped he would continue his studies at the University of Valladolid, but at the age of fourteen, Durruti decided to train as a mechanic and move into the workforce.
In 1910, Durruti began his apprenticeship under the tutelage of Melchor Martínez, a master mechanic and a local leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). Martínez oversaw Durruti's development as both a mechanic and as a socialist; during this period, Durruti stopped attending church and other religious events, which earned him a bad reputation among the city's Catholic population. After two years, Martínez informed Durruti that he had nothing left to teach him and pressed him to move on. He spent the subsequent year at a workshop that assembled machines for mineral processing, after which he qualified as a lathe operator. In April 1913, Durruti joined the Metalworkers' Union of the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) and became a prominent local union organiser. Like other workers in his union, Durruti came under the tutelage of the Leonese socialist theoretician Iglesias Munís, but before long became impatient and disillusioned with the socialist party leadership. Durruti came to reject electoral politics in favour of revolutionary socialism, which caused tension between him and the party leadership; during this time, he would often remark that "socialism is either active or isn't socialism".
Following the outbreak of World War I, Spanish neutrality enabled the country to experience an economic boom. As his workshop was unable to keep up with demand, Durruti was dispatched to Matallana, where he would oversee the installation of mineral processors on-site. A few days after arriving, the Asturian miners went on strike in protest against workplace bullying by one of the engineers, demanding he be dismissed. Durruti led his team of mechanics in a solidarity action, refusing to assemble any machinery until the miners' demands were met. This forced the management to concede to the workers demands. Impressed by his conduct, Durruti's name quickly spread among miners in Asturias, who referred to him as the "big one". After he finished his job and returned to León, he was reprimanded for joining the strike by both his boss and his union leaders; Martínez urged him to leave León or else face persecution by the Civil Guard. His father secured him a new job as a mechanic for the Northern Railway Company (CCHNE). Following a nationwide general strike by the UGT in August 1917, the CCHNE fired its entire workforce, breaking the power of the railroad workers' union. During the strike, Durruti carried out acts of sabotage, which drew the attention of the police. In an attempt to regain its position, the UGT expelled many of its more revolutionary young members, including Durruti, who was finally forced to leave León. Wanted for conscription evasion, Durruti fled to Gijón, where sympathetic Asturian miners facilitated his escape to France in December 1917.
Throughout 1918, Durruti kept moving between the cities of Occitania, while keeping in touch with family and friends in León. During this time, he came into contact with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), an anarcho-syndicalist trade union. Through the CNT, he adopted the political philosophy of anarchism, which he identified with his own revolutionary approach to socialism. In January 1919, he returned to Gijón and exchanged information about the CNT's activities in France with local activists that had overseen its growth in Asturias. He officially joined the CNT while working as a mechanic in La Felguera, before heading to La Robla, where Asturian mineworkers were on strike. He then attempted to meet up with some old Leonese friends in Santiago de Compostela, but was arrested by the Civil Guard, who discovered he had evaded conscription. He was brought before a Court Martial in San Sebastián, but with help from friends and his sister Rosa, he managed to escape back to France. By June 1919, he was working as a mechanic in Paris, while keeping up correspondence with Leonese anarchists. His friends kept him up to date with the development and growth of the CNT in Spain, prompting him to return to the country in early 1920. He relocated to northern Spain, where he supported strikes (including the Riotinto mining strike of 1920) with acts of sabotage and attacks against businesses.
When Durruti arrived back in San Sebastián, he found the local branch of the CNT, run by Manuel Buenacasa, which helped him find work as a mechanic in Errenteria. He frequented the union's branch office after he finished work, although he rarely took part in meetings and mostly sat by himself reading newspapers. Durruti and other metalworkers affiliated with the CNT formed an opposition group within the local branch of the UGT; Durruti's prominence within the organisation worried its socialist leadership, although he refused to accept any leadership positions that he was nominated for, as he considered rank-and-file militance more important. He also became close friends with the CNT leader Buenacasa, who introduced him to several of the union's militants. Durruti and a number of these new acquaintances formed a new anarchist group, Los Justicieros. In reaction to intensifying state terrorism against the trade union movement, the group decided to attempt to assassinate King Alfonso XIII; the group began constructing a tunnel under the location the King was expected to attend, while Durruti was set the task of acquiring explosives. However, before they could carry out their plan, it was uncovered by the police. Durruti, Marcelino del Campo and Gregorio Suberviola were publicly named by the media as the plotters. With the aid of sympathetic railway workers, Buenacasa arranged their escape from San Sebastián to Zaragoza by freight train.