Biography of Juan Garcia Oliver (1901-1980)

Garcia Oliver was a native of Catalonia and member of the Catalan Regional Committee of the C.N.T. or National Labor Federation, where he was a close associate of Buenaventura Durruti. He led a group in battle against the military uprising of July 1936 in Barcelona, occupying the women's prison and releasing all its prisoners.

During the Spanish Civil War, Garcia Oliver served as secretary of the Catalan Defense Council. When it became apparent that the Republican troops needed a central system of organization, he was one of the C.N.T.'s delegates to the Madrid Government. He later became Minister of Justice to the Republican Government. As such, he acted on the philosophy that crime was the product of social deficencies and that criminals should be treated, not punished.

SOURCES: Fraser, Roland. Blood of Spain New York: Pantheon Books, 1979.

Jellinek, Frank. The Civil War in Spain New York: Howard Fertig, Inc., 1969.

Links to biographical information about Juan Garcia Oliver will be placed here as they are found.