Rafael Gambra Ciudad

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Rafael Gambra Ciudad
20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
School
Main interests
Political philosophy

Rafael Gambra Ciudad (21 July 1920 – 13 January 2004) was a Spanish philosopher, a

consumer society
era. As a politician he is acknowledged as a theorist rather than as an active protagonist, though after 2001 he briefly headed one of the Carlist branches.

Family and youth

José Ciudad, maternal grandfather

Rafael's paternal ancestors for generations have been related to

senator,[17] and in 1917-1923 served as President of Tribunal Supremo.[18] The couple had only one child.[19]

Born and raised in Madrid, Rafael spent much of his childhood in Valle de Roncal and later cherished his Navarrese heritage; in historiography he is referred to as a navarro rather than as a madrileño, sometimes dubbed "maestro navarro", "arquetipo navarro", "buen navarro" or "vasco-navarro roncalés".[20] He was brought up in profoundly Catholic ambience;[21] politically his father sympathized with Carlism[22] and his mother, though coming from a Liberal family, also displayed a conservative penchant.[23] He was first educated at the Madrid Marianist Colegio del Pilar; already during his schoolboy years he was attracted to letters and read books while his colleagues played football;[24] during his early adolescent years he was engaged in Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas.[25]

Valle de Roncal, view from upper part of the Belagua section

In July 1936 the Gambras were spending their summer holidays in Roncal, where they were caught by the

Lliria at the moment of Nationalist victory,[34] he was decorated with many military awards.[35]

Rafael Gambra was married to María del Carmen Gutiérrez Sánchez (1921-1984), translator, scholar[36] and as Miguel Arazuri author of fairly popular novels.[37] She was also the founder and manager of Fundación Stella, an independent radio venture.[38] The couple had three children.[39] Of their two sons, Andrés Gambra Gutiérrez is professor of medieval history[40] and the university official,[41] while José Miguel Gambra Gutiérrez is scholar in philosophy,[42] both in Madrid. The two are active Traditionalists,[43] the latter leading the sixtinos Carlists since 2010.[44]

Scholarship

Instituto Lope de Vega
, Madrid

In 1939 Gambra enrolled at the faculty of letters and philosophy at

Feuerbach[51] and was published in 1946.[52]

Already in the early 1940s Gambra assumed teaching at the Madrid Academia Vazquez de Mella, a semi-official Carlist educational and cultural enterprise; he was giving lectures on Traditionalist theory of philosophy, state and politics.

San Pablo CEU college, run by ACdP. Gambra continued collaborating with CEU from the mid-1960s to 1994,[63] also after San Pablo had formally separated from Complutense and became an independent university.[64]

Instituto de Cultura Hispánica

Apart from professional engagements, Gambra continued his teaching career also with a number of semi-scholarly institutions. Until the early 1960s Gambra was giving lectures at Ateneo de Madrid, at that time led by Florentino Pérez Embid,[65] and Instituto de Cultura Hispánica, an establishment created by Francoist authorities to cultivate the Latin American link.[66] In the press referred to as "catedrático",[67] he was active in once-off conferences, also beyond Madrid,[68] and in periodical Catholic cultural-scientific initiatives, like Conversaciones Intelectuales de El Paular[69] or sessions organized by Hermandad Sacerdotal.[70] In the mid-1960s he commenced engagement in Madrid-based Centro de Estudios Históricos y Políticos General Zumalacárregui, a think-tank set up to disseminate Traditionalist thought and counter progressist designs on Carlism. In the late 1960s he stood as a recognized authority, at least within the Traditionalist realm.[71] He continued giving lectures in the 1980s,[72] as late as 1989[73] and 1992.[74] In 1998 he celebrated 50 years of teaching.[75]

Thought

Juan Vázquez de Mella

In terms of general inspiration Gambra is broadly defined as fitting within the

Karl von Vogelsang[81] and especially Juan Vázquez de Mella
.

The principal thread of Gambra's thought is repudiation of rationalism-based civilization[82] and promotion of a Traditionalist outlook. Human life is understood as commitment to divine order[83] and human identity as spanned between own self and community belonging.[84] A man is perceived primarily as a social – not autonomous[85] – being, expressed mostly by his role in society; similarly, life is about contributing to common good, incompatible with individualism or liberalism.[86] The society itself is governed by nature, animality and rationality, though religion as a transcendent factor is indispensable element of social equation.[87] Such a polity is best expressed as a "society of duties", united by common purpose and religious inspiration.[88] As he believed a public organization not based on accepted orthodoxy can never be stable, leading to mere co-existence rather than community,[89] Gambra advocated public embracement of the doctrine[90] with respect for privately held heterodoxy.[91]

Marcel Lefebvre C.S.Sp.,[92] picture from 1981

According to Gambra social self of a human is best expressed by tradition, viewed as accumulated and irreversible evolution that provides a principle governing historical societies[93] and incompatible with revolutionary patterns of change.[94] In case of Spain the tradition is embodied in hereditary monarchy as opposed to elective heads of state,[95] federative structure[96] as opposed to unitary nation states,[97] organic representation[98] as opposed to corruption-prone and individual-centred parliamentarian democracy,[99] Catholic orthodoxy as opposed to secular or neutral regime[100] and generally withdrawn admin structures as opposed to modern, omnipotent state.[101] Politically the guardian of such a tradition[102] was Carlism,[103] not merely political grouping or romantic sentiment but rather the very essence of Spanish self.[104]

Recurring thread of Gambra's thought, by some considered its key component,

Vaticanum II[110] he considered Dignitatis humanae incompatible with tradition,[111] the innovative effort of Vatican producing demolition of Christianity[112] and reduction of Catholic integrity to mere "Christian inspiration".[113] Indeed, he is often referred to as an Integrist.[114] Faced with progressist stance of the Church, Gambra started assuming anti-clerical positions from the far-right perspective.[115] He often combined his critique with onslaught on European idea, considered a euphemism denoting a militant, anti-Christian ideology,[116] and opposed its implementation in Spain.[117] He was not that much anti-democratic as rather opposing deification of democracy,[118] and especially the central if not exclusive position it claimed within public space.[119]

Works

Romería
, Spain

Most popular Gambra's works were textbooks in history of philosophy: Historia sencilla de la filosofía (1961) and Curso elemental de filosofía (1962); tailored for the beginners, they were reprinted in countless editions and served as immensely popular introductions to philosophy for generations of Spanish students[120] until the early 21st century.[121] The first edition of Curso was nominally co-authored by Gustavo Bueno; in the subsequent re-runs the publisher dropped Bueno, who after the fall of Francoism claimed that the result of his own labor had been merely re-edited by Gambra.[122] In 1970 these works were supplemented by La filosofía católica en el siglo XX.[123]

Gambra's view on theory of society and state was laid out in three works: his PhD dissertation La interpretación materialista de la historia (1946), La monarquía social y representativa en el pensamiento tradicional (1954)[124] and Eso que llaman estado (1958).[125] La monarquía, together with almost simultaneously published similar work of Elías de Tejada,[126] became a cornerstone of Traditionalist theoretical vision, while Eso que llaman was widely discussed in the press of the era;[127] both earned Gambra prestigious standing in scholarly discourse.

The works which made most impact among the wide public were 4 books focusing on contemporary culture: La unidad religiosa y el derrotismo católico (1965),[128] El silencio de Dios (1967),[129] Tradición o mimetismo (1976)[130] and El lenguaje y los mitos (1983).[131] The first two centred on secularization of Western polities; they confronted Christian-Democratic vision[132] and Vatican II alike,[133] explored roots of perceived cultural decline, tried to re-define tradition versus progress[134] and strove to demonstrate how multifold advances of the last centuries have given man a false sense of mastery.[135] Tradición turned dramatically out of tune with the transición spirit, withdrawn by the editor and distributed by the author himself.[136] Finally, El lenguaje deconstructed modern communication; its objective was to prove that the progressist tide manipulated the language and turned it from means of communication into means of promoting cultural revolution.[137]

shopping mall, Spain

Apart from translations,[138] booklets,[139] compilations[140] and single though some of them original historical attempts,[141] most of 775 titles in digitalized version of Gambra's writings, released in 2002, are contributions to reviews and daily press.[142] Since the 1940s Gambra was moderately engaged[143] in Calvo Serrer directed Arbor.[144] Later he switched to La Ciudad Católica, turned into Verbo, unofficial review of the Spanish Integrists,[145] contributing also to other Catholic titles like Tradición Católica or conservative ones like Ateneo. He supplied a number of Carlist reviews and bulletins:[146] Siempre p'alante, La Santa Causa, Montejurra and Azada y Asta, gradually eradicated from the last two by their progressist management.[147] Through many decades he was key author of El Pensamiento Navarro.[148] During late Francoism and afterwards he collaborated with El Alcázar and Fuerza Nueva. In the 1990s and later he appeared in nationwide press mostly as author of letters to the editor;[149] his last item identified is from 2003.[150] In the 1950s he engaged in private Carlist ventures Editorial Cálamo[151] and Ediciones Montejurra.[152]

Carlist: confronting Franco

early Francoism

Released from the Carlist Requeté unit, during academic years in Madrid Gambra engaged in the Traditionalist Academia Vázquez de Mella.

Nazi terror across the Pyrenees into Spain.[159] In the late 1940s he gained weight within Navarrese Carlism; in the early 1950s he was already listed among "dirigentes locales"[160] who "tenían en el país vasconavarro una indudable influencia";[161] in 1953 he formally entered Junta Provincial.[162]

Since emergence of pro-Francoist Carloctavista branch in the mid-1940s Gambra was increasingly anxious about protracted regency of Don Javier.[163] Uncompromising towards another collaborative branch, the Rodeznistas,[164] in the early 1950s he concluded that Don Javier should reinvigorate the movement by terminating the regency and declaring his own claim to the throne. When this eventually happened in 1952, Gambra was co-author[165] of Acto de Barcelona, a proclamation issued by the pretender and viewed also as major re-definition of the Carlist dynastical reading.[166] Books on Traditionalist monarchy established his firm position as a recognized party theorist. In 1954 he entered sub-commission of culture within Comisión de Cultura y Propaganda of the Carlist executive, Junta Nacional.[167]

Don Javier, 1960

When discussing the mid-1950s some authors count him among the immovilistas, non-collaborative followers of

Baleztena brothers he opposed him from even more anti-Francoist positions.[169] Once Carlism changed its strategy towards cautious rapprochement, Gambra stuck to his guns and lambasted the official collaborationist path of the new leader, José María Valiente.[170]

Uneasy about continuous vacillation of Don Javier,[171] Gambra was cautiously supportive of inviting his son Don Carlos Hugo into the Spanish politics; he first met him in 1955[172] and though perplexed by unfamiliarity of the francophone prince with the Spanish affairs,[173] it was Gambra who introduced him at the 1957 Carlist gathering at Montejurra.[174] In the late 1950s Gambra appreciated his energetic style and focus on dynastic loyalty; he also liked young personalities from Don Carlos Hugo's entourage,[175] especially Ramón Massó, a former Gambra's disciple from Academia Vázquez de Mella. Appreciating him as a young Catalan easily communicating with the crowd,[176] at the turn of the decades Gambra collaborated with Massó and others;[177] he did not realize that they exploited Mellist and federalist threads[178] but considered him a rotten reactionary[179] and approached his teaching highly selectively.[180] It was only in the early 1960s that Gambra realized that Huguistas tried to outsmart the Traditionalists; having failed to prevent their increased presence in the party structures, around 1963 Gambra dissociated himself from Carlohuguismo to launch an openly confrontational bid.

Carlist: confronting Progress

Carlist meeting, 1966

In 1963 Gambra co-founded Centro de Estudios Históricos y Políticos General Zumalacárregui;

progressist vision of the Huguistas.[183] Apart from publications and minor events,[184] its activity climaxed in two Congresos de Estudios Tradicionalistas, staged in 1964 and 1968.[185] As supporters of Don Carlos Hugo were gaining momentum,[186] Gambra was leaning towards rapprochement among all Carlist branches separated from the party during the last 20 years: Rodeznistas, Carloctavistas, Sivattistas and the recently expulsed politicians like José Luis Zamanillo or Francisco Elías de Tejada.[187] Parking dynastical issues,[188] they were supposed to be united by loyalty to Traditionalist principles and opposition to socialist penchant.[189] The plan did not work out until the early 1970s, it is until emergence of ephemeral structure styled as ex-Requeté organization.[190]

Gambra's efforts of the time were mostly about further refinement of Traditionalist thought in specialized reviews and conferences;[191] they climaxed in ¿Qué es el carlismo? (1971), concise lecture of the doctrine co-authored with de Tejada and Puy Muñoz. Also in the mid-1970s he was very engaged in propaganda war with the Huguistas. The latter lambasted his accord with "ultra-fascist line" of El Pensamiento Navarro[192] and his "posición ultramontana";[193] Gambra mobilized Traditionalists to challenge progressist grip on Carlism and prior to the 1976 Montejurra gathering, which effectively produced fatal casualties, called for "asistencia masiva de los verdaderos tradicionalistas, que acallará gestos y voces, 'declaraciones' y 'manifiestos', sencillamente inadmisibles, intolerables".[194]

During final years of Francoism and during transición Gambra, always opposed to Falangism and Francoism,

1978 constitution,[198] he sided with Blas Piñar's Fuerza Nueva until the party was dissolved in 1982.[199] Embittered by ongoing change he tried to confront it in newspapers;[200] he compared the setting of late transición to that of the mid-1930s, when Spain was struggling infected with deadly political viruses.[201] He remained on the sidelines of politics; when mushrooming Traditionalist grouplets united in Comunión Tradicionalista Carlista in 1986 Gambra focused rather on youth Carlist organizations,[202] his spotlight on cultural heritage and education.[203]
His objective was to promote Traditionalist values in the increasingly secular, modern consumer Spanish society.

Don Sixto, 1999

In the late 1980s and the early 1990s Gambra was considered supreme authority on theory of Traditionalism.[204] This was acknowledged during homage celebrations organized in 1998,[205] though formal recognition came 3 years later. In 2001 Don Sixto, the younger son of Don Javier styled as Abanderado de la Tradición (though falling short either of claiming the throne or even claiming the Carlist regency) nominated Gambra chief of his Secretaría Política.[206] Not all the Traditionalists recognized Gambra's authority; the Carloctavistas and Comunión Tradicionalista Carlista - not admitting allegiance to any dynastical line - dissociated themselves from the nomination.[207] Assuming political leadership of the sixtinos Carlists, the 81-year-old considered his elevation another cross to bear, though as an octogenarian Gambra remained fairly active; his last public appearance took place during the Cerro de los Ángeles feast in 2002.[208]

Reception and legacy

Carlist standard

Gambra emerged as a notable Traditionalist theorist in the mid-1950s. In the late 1960s he was already a recognized authority within the movement and beyond,[209] with first homage sessions organized in 1968;[210] at that time his books on culture and Christianity earned him name also among wider national audience. With the commencing transición of the late 1970s his works went out of fashion up to the point of withdrawing them from bookstores.[211] Following the 1983 publication of El lenguaje y los mitos he started to disappear from public discourse, publishing either in specialized reviews or partisan press titles.[212] Within Traditionalism he grew to an iconic figure, honored by 1998 homage session[213] and a monograph by Miguel Ayuso, published the same year.[214] Though he gained a number of prizes, all of them were awarded by conservative institutions.[215] His 2004 death was noted by some though not all nationwide newspapers[216] and acknowledged by monographic issue of Anales de Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada.[217]

Taxonomy of Gambra's work is unclear. Today he is usually vaguely referred to as "thinker",[218] an application used also by the Spanish press during his lifetime, alternating with "publicista", "catedrático", "profesor" or "ensayista".[219] When it comes to detailed designation his work is usually classified as philosophy,[220] though some see it as part of historiography[221] or political science.[222] In general Spanish encyclopedias he usually merits very brief notes.[223] Some philosophy-dedicated dictionaries ignore him,[224] some just mention his name[225] and in few he is treated at length.[226] In some manuals he appears in entries dealing with Traditionalism, though featured as a secondary theorist who failed to provide original contribution and was rather a renovator[227] of earlier thought.[228] As a historian by some he is denied sound credentials, counted among pseudo-scientific "historiografia neotradicionalista",[229] others challenge this approach.[230] As education official he is considered opponent of modernising technocratic changes.[231] He is sometimes counted among members of "generación de 1948".[232]

Montejurra, 2014

Within Traditionalism Gambra remains one of the all-time greats. His opus is applauded as grand contribution,[233] a synthesis[234] and a holistic "cosmovisión católica y española",[235] though few authors consider his input an update rather than an original contribution.[236] Gambra's followers see him as "pensador tradicionalista contemporáneo más importante",[237] "esencia del tradicionalismo"[238] or even "el más grande y el más fiel filósofo español de la segunda mitad del siglo XX",[239] himself and counter-revolution being one and the same thing.[240] However, also within the Traditionalist realm he found some of his concepts – especially his intransigence - challenged, like in case of a 2003 polemics with Alvaro d'Ors.[241] During the 2014 conference on Traditionalism[242] Gambra was dedicated one paper and featured prominently in a number of others; apart from that, both his sons acted as speakers.[243] In the 2015 synthesis of Traditionalist thought he is the second – after Elías de Tejada - most featured author.[244] Some of Gambra's essay books are being re-published, especially El Silencio de Dios enjoyed a number of editions and was translated into French[245] and English.[246] A new book was released posthumously.[247]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ compare Qué visitar section at the Ayuntamiento de Roncal web page, available here Archived 2016-06-01 at the Wayback Machine, or Roncal section at the vallederoncal tourist service, available here
  2. ^ Rafael Gambra, El Valle de Roncal en la Guerra de la Independencia, [in:] Príncipe de Viana 20/76-77 (1959), pp. 187-215
  3. ^ ABC 25.05.30, available here
  4. ^ Pedro Francisco Gambra y Barrena, a lawyer from Roncal, married Josefa Sanz y Escartín, the sister of Eduardo Sanz y Escartín and the cousin of Cesáreo Sanz Escartín
  5. ^ in the late 1870s he was jefe de administracion honorario employed in Dirección General de Propiedades y Derechos de Estado, see Guía Oficial de España 1879, p. 642, available here. In the late 1880s he served as administrador de contribuciones in the province of Madrid, see La Iberia 28.05.89, available here, becoming Delegado de Hacienda in Valladolid in 1896, see La Iberia 28.01.96, available here. In 1911 he rose to debt and budget administration in the ministry, Guía Oficial de España 1911, p. 514, available here
  6. ^ ABC 11.08.64, available here
  7. Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco service, available here
  8. ^ see drafts and sketches at europeana service, available here
  9. , pp. 29-30
  10. Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco
  11. ^ ABC 10.02.15, available here
  12. ^ ABC 03.08.47, available here, some sources claim her name was Rafaela Ciudad Orioles, Hernando de Larramendi 2000, pp. 29-30
  13. ^ Hernando de Larramendi 2000, pp. 29-30
  14. ^ ABC 05.01.11, available here
  15. ^ ABC 10.02.15, available here
  16. ^ see the official Cortes service, available here
  17. ^ see the official Senate service, available here
  18. Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco
  19. ^ ABC 03.08.47, available here
  20. ^ Boletín del Círculo Tradicionalista Carlista San Mateo 39 (1998), Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org service, available here, José de Armas, In memoriam. Rafael Gambra. Fidelidad a los principios y lealtad a las personas Rafael Gambra en mi personal "Camino de Damasco", [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 10 (2004), p.170
  21. ^ compare his recollections Al Dios – y a la Iglesia – que alegraron mi juventud, [in:] El Pensamiento Navarro, issue from 1973, available here
  22. Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco
  23. ^ ABC 05.01.11, available here
  24. , p. 367
  25. , p. 105
  26. , p. 43
  27. ^ Manuel Santa Cruz Alberto Ruiz de Galarreta, Rafael Gambra. un hombre cabal, [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 10 (2004), p. 174
  28. ^ Gambra's own account of fightings on the Alto de León pass in the summer of 1936 ignores his own role, compare Rafal Gambra, 1936: El Alto de Leon, [in:] Siempre P'alante 1993, available here; for pro-Republican account of the same war episode see Mariano Maroto García, El 18 de julio en Leganes (II), [in:] Ciudadanas y Ciadadanos por el cambio 31.07.11, available here
  29. ^ Luis Hernando de Larramendi, In memoriam. Rafael Gambra. Los Gambra y los Larramendi: una mistad carlista, [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 10 (2004), p. 172
  30. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 175
  31. , p. 389
  32. ^ a battalion composed mostly of the Castilians, for its operational history see Aróstegui 2013, p. 653-667
  33. ^ Aróstegui 2013, p. 667
  34. ^ Ajencia Patriótica de Noticias de Acción Juvenil Española 13.01.04
  35. Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco
    , Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  36. ^ she was professor of history and geography at Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu in Madrid, Miguel Arazuri, [in:] BiblioRomance service, available here
  37. ^ she authored some 30 novels, some of them forming part of a wider entity, see Miguel Arazuri, [in:] BiblioRomance service, available here
  38. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 176
  39. ^ Larramendi 2004, p. 172, Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  40. ^ in UCM, UNED, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Colegio Universitario Domingo de Soto (Segovia), Universidad Francisco (Vitoria) and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, see D. Andrés Gambra Gutiérrez, [in:] Universidad Rey Juan Carlos service, available here; for some of his works see dialnet.unirioja service, available here
  41. ^ secretario general and member of Consejo de Gobierno, D. Andrés Gambra Gutierrez, [in:] Universidad Rey Juan Carlos service, available here
  42. ^ see Profesores del Departamento, [in:] Universidad Complutense, Departamento de Lógica y Filosófia de la Ciencia service, available here; for some of his works see dialnet.unirioja service, available here
  43. ^ see e.g. Andrés Gambra, acting as official at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, in public confronting marginalisation of Christianity and deification of progress, La Razón 15.02.11, available here
  44. ^ see e.g. José Miguel Gambra, nuevo jefe de la Sec. Política de S.A.R. Don Sixto Enrique Bornón, [in:] Radio Cristianidad service 09.03.10, available here
  45. ^ Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  46. ^ see Rafael Gambra, Aspectos del pensamiento de Salvador Minguijón, [in:] Revista international de sociologia 67 (1959), pp. 85-88
  47. ^ Rafael Gambra, gran filósofo tradicionalista, [in:] Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco
  48. ^ Ministerio de Educacion Nacional, Cátedra 1960-1961. Prontuario del Profesor, Madrid 1960, p. 1021
  49. , p. 314
  50. ^ titled La interpretación materialista de la historia (una investigación social-histórica a la luz de la filosofía actual)
  51. ^ see Sumarios y extractos de las Tesis Doctorales leídas desde 1940 a 1950 en las secciones de Filosofía y Pedagogía, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Madrid, pp. 61-66
  52. ^ Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  53. ^ Hernando de Larramendi 2000, pp. 59, 89-60, Larramendi 2004, p. 172
  54. , p. 43
  55. ^ Díaz Hernández 2011, p. 561
  56. ^ Díaz Hernández 2011, p. 320
  57. ^ Díaz Hernández 2011, p. 361
  58. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 175
  59. , pp. 402-403
  60. ^ BOE 186 (1964), available here
  61. ^ BOE 155 (1968), available here; later the institute was renamed to Instituto Naciónal de Bachillerato Lope de Vega, BOE 284 (1977), available here
  62. pp. 170, 671
  63. ^ exact nature of this collaboration is unclear. None of the sources consulted refers to Gambra as "academic"
  64. ^ ABC 30.11.55, available here, also ABC 18.12.59, available here
  65. ^ ABC 17.11.66, available here, ABC 20.11.66, available here
  66. ^ La Vanguardia 04.09.65, available here
  67. ^ ABC 11.03.55, available here, Ateneo Barcelones. Memoria. Curso de 1959-1960, p. 5, available here
  68. ^ ABC 13.05.61, available here
  69. ^ ABC 25.09.61, available here
  70. ^ honored by homage sessions, ABC 09.07.68, available here
  71. ^ e.g. on organization of secondary education, see ABC 11.04.84, available here
  72. ^ e.g. at Asociación Cultural Hispania, ABC 17.11.89, available here
  73. ^ ABC 11.02.92, available here
  74. ^ ABC 24.11.98, available here
  75. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 143
  76. ISBN 9788436271041, page unavailable, see here
  77. ^ González Cuevas 2016
  78. ^ de Armas 1965, p. 533
  79. ^ González Cuevas 2016
  80. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 143
  81. ^ Miguel Ayuso Torres, El tradicionalismo de Gambra, [in:] Razón española 89 (1998), p. 305
  82. ^ Ayuso Torres 1998, p. 306
  83. ^ de Armas 1965, p. 553, González Cuevas 2016
  84. ^ Ayuso Torres 1998, pp. 309-310
  85. ^ also, Sartre and St. Exupery, Ayuso Torres 1998, p. 306
  86. ^ Ayuso Torres 1998, p. 307
  87. ^ Ayuso Torres 1998, p. 307-8
  88. ^ Ayuso Torres 1998, p. 308, Bartyzel 2015, p. 95
  89. ISBN 9781496404244, page unavailable, see here
    . He perceived it as bowing to invasion of progressism and Europeisation, coming from Italy, France and the Vatican - Santa Cruz 2004, p. 176
  90. ^ de Armas 1965, p. 553, Bartyzel 2015, p. 278
  91. ^ for a sample of Gambra's highly sympathetic though not openly anti-Vatican rebellious views on Lefebvre see e.g. Algo más sobre Monseñor Lefebvre, [in:] La Nación 14.06.95, available here
  92. ^ at times this concept was applied to unlikely cases like a family saga from Colorado, screened on Spanish TV in the early 1980s, see Carmelo López-Arias Montenegro, In memoriam. Rafael Gambra. Rafael Gambra y el sentido del tiempo, [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 10 (2004), p. 168
  93. ^ Juan B. Vallet de Goytisolo, In memoriam. Rafael Gambra. La luz que agradezco a Rafael Gambra, [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 10 (2004), p. 180
  94. ^ he viewed elective leadership of state as hostage to ideocracy, Bartyzel 2015, pp. 132-3
  95. ^ Ayuso Torres 1998, pp. 310-311, Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis in Historia Contemporánea, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia], Valencia 2009, pp. 407-9, Bartyzel 2015, p. 127
  96. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 139, González Cuevas 2016
  97. ^ Ayuso Torres 1998, pp. 310-311
  98. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 138
  99. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 74
  100. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 140, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 404
  101. ^ according to another summary, for Gambra the essence of Traditionalism was: 1) society as community united by common orthodoxy, 2) family as basis; 3) corporative purpose-guided structure (jerarquización teleológica); 4) subsidiarity principle of all public power; 5) organic representation, Bartyzel 2015, p. 74
  102. ^ Miguel Ayuso Torres, El carlismo y su signo (a los 175 años), [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 14 (2008), p. 131
  103. ^ Ayuso Torres 2008, p. 132
  104. ^ González Cuevas 2016
  105. ^ de Armas 1965, p. 555, Bartyzel 2015, p. 284
  106. ^ see e.g. Rafael Gambra, Maritain y Teilhard de Chardin, [in:] Verbo 78-79 (1969), p. 781, referred after Bartyzel 2015, p. 285
  107. ^ in case of Spain commencing in the 1821-1823 war, Ayuso Torres 1998, p. 311, Bartyzel 2015, p. 58
  108. , p. 406; not to mention against Maurras, considered "tradicionalismo de izquierdas", González Cuevas 2016
  109. ^ Ayuso Torres 2004, pp. 163-4, Santa Cruz 2004, p. 177; he later referred to the Council as Los heraldos del anticristo, see Boletín de Comunión Católico-Monárquica 11-12 (1985), available here
  110. , p. 271
  111. , pp. 148-150
  112. ^ López-Arias Montenegro 2004, pp. 167-8
  113. ^ Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 475, Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, p. 155. Gambra has not rejected the authority of Vatican; disillusioned about Paul VI, he noted that in John Paul I's public statements he heard about discipline, a word long forgotten in Vatican, and about faith instead of social problems, see El Imparcial, available here. Cautiously optimistic prior to the 1982 John Paul II's visit to Spain - see e.g. Siempre p'alante from 1982, available here, he assumed a decisively skeptical stance in the late 1990s. He was anxious about ecumenical activity of the pope, see e.g. Fuerza Nueva 1997, available here or noted that while John Paul II in public hailed integrity of Italian state and spoke against separatism of right-wing Lega Nord, he has never supported Spanish territorial integrity and has never spoke against the left-wing Basque separatism, see Fuerza Nueva 1996, available here
  114. ^ e.g. in El Pensamiento Navarro he lambasted clergymen for systematically turning sermons into subversive political lectures, apparently with no reaction on part of official ecclesiastical authorities, referred after Mediterráneo. Prensa y radio del Movimiento 23.03.75, available here. Gambra's views on cardenal Tarancón were extremely critical and he did not refrain from mocking the head of Spanish church in public, compare an article with already abusive title La 'cana al aire' del cardenal Tarancón, [in:] Fuerza Nueva 06.08.77, available here
  115. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 89
  116. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, pp. 175-6
  117. ^ see e.g. his La democracia como religión, [in:] Roma 89 (1985), available here
  118. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 207
  119. ^ Ayuso 2004, p. 162
  120. , p. 125. Historia sencilla enjoyed 25 re-editions, while Curso elemental had 17 re-runs
  121. ^ Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  122. ^ 186 pages, available online at funcacionspeiro service here
  123. ^ 254 pages, available online at Fundación Larramendi service here
  124. ^ 229 pages, available online at Fundación Larramendi service here
  125. ^ and titled La monarquía tradicional, 1953
  126. ^ see e.g. ABC 01.05.58, available here
  127. ^ 190 pp, Rafael Gambra: La unidad religiosa y el derrotismo católico. Estudio sobre el principio religioso de las sociedades históricas y en particular sobre el Catolicismo en la nacionalidad española, Sevilla 1965, available online at Fundación Larramendi service here
  128. ^ 202 pp, available online at Fundación Larramendi service here
  129. ^ 320 pp, available online at Fundación Larramendi service here
  130. ^ 247 pp, available online at Fundación Larramendi service here
  131. ^ detailed discussion in de Armas 1965
  132. ^ Ayuso 2004, p. 163-4, Santa Cruz 2004, p. 177
  133. ^ Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  134. ^ Oskar Gruenwald, The promise of inter-disciplinary studies: re-imagining the university, [in:] Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 26 (2014), pp. 2-4
  135. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 178, Goytisolo 2004, p. 179
  136. ^ with particular attention paid to terms like "democracy", "equality", "evolution", "progress", "humanism", "human rights" etc, Ayuso Torres 1998, p. 305, Bartyzel 2015, p. 207. El lenguaje y los mitos provided a counter-reference to another book on public communication, issued a few years earlier and having been a lecture of media manipulation, elevated to the status of art and science; the book was fathered by former Gambra's disciple and Carlist collaborator turned his enemy, Ramón Massó, De la magia a la artesanía: el politing del cambio español (1980)
  137. ^ Bertrand de Jouvenel, Du Pouvoir. Histoire naturelle de sa croissance (1956)
  138. ^ e.g. Los tres lemas de la sociedad futura (1953)
  139. ^ e.g. collection of his earlier essays La moral existencialista (1955)
  140. p 458
  141. ^ Larramendi 2004, p. 173
  142. ^ Gambra published 6 articles in Arbor and is referred to as "colaborador ocasional", Díaz Hernández 2011, pp. 43, 351
  143. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 177
  144. ^ Ayuso 2004, p. 164
  145. ^ Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 445, Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, p. 165
  146. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 175
  147. ^ e.g. see his voice on veterans, ABC 08.06.92, available here, or on Pedro Almodovar, ABC 08.11.95, available here
  148. ^ ABC 26.08.95, available here
  149. ^ Larramendi 2004, p. 172; the publishing house was the first one in the Francoist Spain to refer to Picasso with respect, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 446
  150. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 263
  151. ^ Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 203-5
  152. ^ first trapped in Vichy France and after mid-1944 detained by Gestapo in Dachau
  153. , p. 41, Bartyzel 2015, p. 248
  154. ^ see his 1940 correspondence, Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, p. 18
  155. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 248
  156. ^ especially following dynastic reading presented by Fernando Polo in his ¿Quién es el Rey?, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 395
  157. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 175
  158. ^ Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 344
  159. ^ Javier Lavardin [José Antonio Parilla], Historia del ultimo pretendiente a la corona de España, Paris 1976, p. 15
  160. ^ Mercedes Vázquez de Prada Tiffe, El papel del carlismo navarro en el inicio de la fragmentación definitiva de la comunión tradicionalista (1957-1960), [in:] Príncipe de Viana 72 (2011), p. 395
  161. ^ Bartyzel 2015, pp. 248-9
  162. ^ in the early 1950s he demanded that collaborative Carlists are made to stand clear what they are for, Vázquez de Prada Tiffe 2011, p. 395
  163. ^ together with Francisco Elías de Tejada and Melchor Ferrer
  164. ^ Mercedes Vázquez de Prada Tiffe, El nuevo rumbo político del carlismo hacia la colaboración con el régimen (1955-56), [in:] Hispania 69 (2009), p. 193, Bartyzel 2015, p. 251
  165. , p. 138
  166. ^ Vázquez de Prada Tiffe 2009, p. 182
  167. ^ Lavardin 1976, pp. 15, 18; others claim that differences were rather of personal nature, Ramón María Rodon Guinjoan, Invierno, primavera y otoño del carlismo (1939-1976) [PhD thesis Universitat Abat Oliba CEU], Barcelona 2015, p. 115
  168. ^ for 1956 see Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 67; for 1957 letter see Gambra's letter to Valiente, reading that "La política de acercamiento al régimen (o de acogida de un supuesto llamamiento del Generalísmo), que Ud. siempra ha propugnado, producirá, a mi juicio, [...] los siguentes efectos: 1) resultados políticos nulos; 2) situación de ridículo general ante el país; 3) desaliento, división y aun violencias graves entre los Carlistas", quoted after Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, p. 293, see also Vallverdú i Martí 2014, p. 157; for 1958 see Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 78
  169. ^ for 1955 see Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 33; in 1956 he edited a memorandum aimed against a would-be reconciliation with the Alfonsists, prepared in wake of rumors of Don Javier preparing such a deal, Vázquez de Prada 2016, pp. 37-38
  170. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 263
  171. ^ Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 395, Lavardin 1976, p. 18, Bartyzel 2015, p. 265
  172. ^ Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 416, Vázquez de Prada Tiffe 2011, p. 401, Lavardin 1976, p. 32, Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 58
  173. ^ for good initial relations between Gambra and AET see Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 54
  174. ^ "primero habla [in Montejurra 1956] un estudiante catalán, que tiene el acierto de coger enseguida la onda de la emoción popular y de hablar con frases breves y rotundas. El público entra de maravilla, aplaude, interrumpe, completa y redondea las frases del orador", quoted after Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 385
  175. ^ Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 382
  176. ^ "La obra de Gambra sirvió de base teórica para quienes prepararon, adoctrinaron y lanzaron políticamente al primogénito de los Borbón Parma, Carlos Hugo", Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 361, 397-409
  177. ^ according to them, "Estas treinta o cuarenta páginas [of Gambra's work] sobran, no valen absolutamente nada", Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 412
  178. ^ Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 479-80
  179. ^ Vallverdú i Martí 2014, p. 230
  180. ^ Jacek Bartyzel, Tradycjonalizm a dyktatura. Francisco Elías de Tejada y Spínola wobec frankizmu, [in:] Marek Maciejewski, Tomasz Scheffler (eds.), Studia nad Autorytaryzmem i Totalitaryzmem 36/2 (2014), p. 7. In general, during the 1960s Carlism was tolerated as semi-legal grouping. When a formal case was lodged before the court by an Alfonsist monarchist, who indicated that Comunión Tradicionalista, noted in the press, is illegal organisation, the answer was as follows: "El Tribunal de Orden Público abrió el correspondiente sumario pero a la postre resolvió abstenerse de entrar en el fondo del asunto y archivar las actuaciones porque La Comunión Tradicionalista, según el Decreto d 19 de abril de 1937, integró con Falange Española una entidad de carácter nacional, en tanto se declaraban disueltas las demás organizaciones y partidos políticos, de donde se obtiene una legitimidad de origen y, por consiguiente, una imposibilidad de subsumir a dicha Comunión en las previsiones penales sobre asociaciones políticas, pues ni esta prohibida por la Ley ni ha dejado de cumplir los requisitos o trámites exigidos para constituirla. Añade que su actuación, como integrante del Movimiento y sometida a su régimen juridico, queda al margen de la Ley de Asociacines, por lo que cualquier irregularidad para poder ser estimada exigiria como requisito previo a modo de condición objetive de procedibilidad el que la misma fuese declarada por el propio Movimiento", quoted after Rodon Guinjoan 2015, p. 222-223
  181. ^ Ayuso 2008, p. 20; at the time its chief exponent was José María Zavala Castella, later joined by Pedro José Zabala and others
  182. ^ Centro issued also periodicals and organized so-called Jornadas Forales across the country, Bartyzel 2015, p. 265
  183. ^ Ayuso 2008, p. 20, Bartyzel 2014
  184. , p. 275: initially attracting few thousand attendants, in the early 1960s they attracted over 50,000 and in the mid-1960s over 100,000
  185. ^ Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, pp. 182-3
  186. ^ Gambra was somewhat reluctant to openly challenge the aging Don Javier and tended to consider him incapacitated by Don Carlos Hugo, Ayuso 2004, p. 163
  187. ^ Bartyzel 2015, p. 266
  188. ^ in 1972, Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, pp. 231-2
  189. ^ organized by Catholic, Carlist, conservative and finally post-Francoist groupings: Ciudad Católica, Jornadas por la Unidad Católica, Homenaje a Mella, Centro Zumalacárregui, Patronato de Fundación Elías de Tejada, Priorato de la Hermandad de San Pío X, Movimiento Católico Español, Fuerza Nueva
  190. ^ Información Española 16.09.70, available here
  191. ^ Información mensual 14 (1971), available here
  192. ^ Por qué hay que reconquistar Montejurra, [in:] El Pensamiento Navarro 04.05.76, quoted after Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, pp. 343-4
  193. ^ "Gambra fue filósofo y escritor tradicionalista, siempre partidario firme de la línea no colaboracionista" - Vázquez de Prada Tiffe 2009, p. 187. According to one scholar, Gambra was the only firmy anti-Francoist among the 4 key Traditionalist theorists of the era, as Elías de Tejada moved from enthusiastic supporter to opposition, d'Ors has always been sympathetic and Canals displayed increasingly pro-regime penchant, Bartyzel 2015, p. 252
  194. ^ Ayuso 2004, p. 163
  195. ^ starting the late 1960s Gambra criticised the regime for its increasingly liberal course, perceived as opening to laicism and inorganic democracy, see El Pensamiento Navarro 30.05.74, quoted after Caspistegui Gorasurreta 1997, p. 166. Following the fall of Francoism Gambra began to view the regime mostly in terms of etatism, bureaucracy, dirigisme and technocracy, with falangismo, sindicalismo, nacional-catolicismo etc merely ideological smokescreen cover-up, Bartyzel 2015, p. 261
  196. ^ because the draft did not refer to God as supremr authority, Gambra with some 60 other pundits signed a letter calling to reject the project in a referendum, Bartyzel 2015, p. 294
  197. ^ Rafael Gambra, gran filósofo tradicionalista, [in:] Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco
  198. ^ e.g. he campaigned against legalising divorce, ABC 14.10.80, available here
  199. ^ "hoy – en 1979 – nos encontramos ante un horizonte político tan sombrío como el que precidió el alzamiento de 1936", quoted after Canal 2000, p. 392
  200. ^ indeed a number of young people admitted having been captured by his arguments, also on TV, see de Armas 2004, Víctor Ibáñez, Rafael Gambra y las Juventudes Tradicionalistas, [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 2004 (10), pp. 164-166, López-Arias Montenegro 2004
  201. ^ Ayuso 2004, pp. 164-6
  202. ^ Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  203. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 179
  204. ^ Ayuso 2004, p. 165
  205. ^ Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  206. ^ Ayuso 2004, p. 165
  207. ^ e.g. he featured in Juan Rodríguez Ruiz, Traditionalism, [in:] Enciclopedia de la Cultura Española, Madrid 1968, vol. 5, pp. 456-459
  208. ^ ABC 09.07.68, available here
  209. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 178, Goytisolo 2004, p. 179
  210. ^ like Siempre p'alante or Fuerza Nueva
  211. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 179
  212. ^ Premio Patronato Olave (1949), Premio Vedruna (1965), Premio Víctor Pradera (1973), Premio de Fundación Oriol-Urquijo (1975), Premio Manuel Delgado Barreto (1996)
  213. ^ e.g. ABC 14.01.04, available here; the Barcelona La Vanguardia did not acknowledge his death
  214. ^ see online version available at Fundación Elias de Tejada service, available here
  215. , p. 422, also "myśliciel" in Bartyzel 2015, p. 16
  216. , p. 4389
  217. , p. 108
  218. ^ Canal 2000, p. 422
  219. ^ González Cuevas 2011, González Cuevas 2016
  220. ^ compare e.g. very brief entry in Oncins 1993, p. 4389; apart from basic facts from his biography, the note lists his major works but does not spare a single word on what his thought was all about
  221. , p. 255; Gambra is mentioned in the chapter titled "Franco-falangismo y nacional-catolicismo" as one of many authors whose principal aim was to provide "politico-philosophical coverage" to "Gloriosa Cruzada Nacional"; he is specified as belonging to "sector más especificamente católico"
  222. ^ Forment 2009, pp. 422-424
  223. ^ "básicamente una renovación de los supusestos de Vázquez de Mella", González Cuevas 2016
  224. ^ "actualizar las teorías de Vázquez de Mella", González Cuevas 2008. p. 1171
  225. ^ which demonstrated "scientific appearance based on erudition and sort of positivist illusion", Canal 2000, p. 422
  226. , pp. 9-38
  227. ^ Castillejo Cambra 2014, pp. 170, 671
  228. ^ among Rafael Calvo Serer, Álvaro D'Ors, Francisco Elías de Tejada, Gonzalo Fernández de la Mora, Antonio Fontán, Hans Juretschke, Juan José López Ibor, Vicente Marrero, Vicente Palacio Atard, Florentino Pérez Embid, José Luis Pinillos and Jaume Vicens Vives, see Antoni Raja i Vich, El Problema de España bajo el primer franquismo, 1936-1956. El debate entre Pedro Laín Entralgo y Rafael Calvo Serer, [PhD thesis Universitat Pompeu Fabra], 2010, p. 16
  229. ^ Ayuso 2004, p. 163
  230. ^ Ayuso 2004, p. 162
  231. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 174
  232. ^ Ibáñez 2004, p. 164
  233. ^ Rafael Gambra. Tres crónicas, [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 2004 (10), p. 159
  234. ^ López-Arias Montenegro 2004, p. 167
  235. ^ Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
  236. ^ Santa Cruz 2004, p. 174
  237. ^ Gambra replied to d'Ors in Quíen busca la destrucción del carlismo?, [in:] Boletín Carlista de Madrid, 70 (2003), referred after Bartyzel 2015, pp. 315-316, detailed discussion in Miguel Ayuso Torres, In memoriam. Álvaro D'Ors y el tradicionalismo (A propósito de una polémica final), [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 10 (2004), pp. 183-197
  238. ^ titled Maestros del tradicionalismo hispánico de la segunda mitad del siglo XX
  239. ^ see the conference leaflet available here
  240. ^ in Bartyzel 2015 Gambra is referred to 75 times

Further reading

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