Rafael Gambra Ciudad (21 July 1920 – 13 January 2004) was a Spanish philosopher, a secondary education official, a Carlist politician and a soldier. In philosophy he is considered key representative of late Traditionalism; his works fall also into theory of state and politics. He is best known as author of books focusing on secularisation of Western European culture in the 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
Rafael's paternal ancestors for generations have been related to Valle de Roncal; until today Casa Gambra and Casa Sanz are iconic mansions of the area.compare Qué visitar section at the Ayuntamiento de Roncal web page, available here , or Roncal section at the vallederoncal tourist service, available here The Gambras made their name fighting the French in 1809.Rafael Gambra, El Valle de Roncal en la Guerra de la Independencia, [in:] Príncipe de Viana 20/76-77 (1959), pp. 187-215 Rafael's grandfather, Pedro Francisco Gambra Barrena (died 1930),ABC 25.05.30, available here married descendant to a distinguished Carlist military Sanz family;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 himself he rose to high positions in Ministry of Economy.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 His son and Rafael's father, Eduardo Gambra Sanz (1878-1964),ABC 11.08.64, available here became an architect.Rafael Gambra, gran filósofo tradicionalista, [in:] Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco service, available here Key Gambra's works are offices of Sociedad Gran Peña along the Gran Víasee drafts and sketches at europeana service, available here and refurbishment of Palacio del Marqués de Miraflores,and the Omnia building at Plaza de Colón, Ignacio Hernando de Larramendi, Así se hizo Mapfre. Mi tiempo, Madrid 2000, , pp. 29-30 marked by attempt to re-capture the splendor of historical Spanish architecture.Rafael Gambra, gran filósofo tradicionalista, [in:] Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco In 1915ABC 10.02.15, available here he married Rafaela Ciudad Villalón (died 1947),ABC 03.08.47, available here, some sources claim her name was Rafaela Ciudad Orioles, Hernando de Larramendi 2000, pp. 29-30 born in SevilleHernando de Larramendi 2000, pp. 29-30 though raised in Madrid.ABC 05.01.11, available here She came from a distinguished family of civil servants; her father José Ciudad AuriolesABC 10.02.15, available here in the early 20th century was a Cortes deputy,see the official Cortes service, available here until the early 1920s a longtime senator,see the official Senate service, available here and in 1917-1923 served as President of Tribunal Supremo.Rafael Gambra, gran filósofo tradicionalista, [in:] Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco The couple had only one child.ABC 03.08.47, available here
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".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 He was brought up in profoundly Catholic ambience;compare his recollections Al Dios – y a la Iglesia – que alegraron mi juventud, [in:] El Pensamiento Navarro, issue from 1973, available here politically his father sympathized with CarlismRafael Gambra, gran filósofo tradicionalista, [in:] Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco and his mother, though coming from a Liberal family, also displayed a conservative penchant.ABC 05.01.11, available here 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;Pablo Larraz Andía, Víctor Sierra-Sesumaga (eds.), Requetés. De las trincheras al olvidio, Madrid 2011, , p. 367 during his early adolescent years he was engaged in Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas.Miguel Ayuso Torres, In memoriam. Rafael Gambra. Rafael Gambra en el pensamiento tradicional español, [in:] Anales de la Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada 10 (2004), p. 163. When in his 50s Gambra appreciated the role of Acción Católica, though not that of CEDA, Tyre and Bloque Nacional, see Miguel Ayuso Torres, Koinos: el pensamiento politico de Rafael Gambra, Madrid 1998, , p. 33, Jacek Bartyzel, Nic bez Boga, nic wbrew tradycji, Radzymin 2015, , p. 105
In July 1936 the Gambras were spending their summer holidays in Roncal, where they were caught by the military coup.Onésimo Díaz Hernández, Rafael Calvo Serer y el grupo Arbor, Valencia 2011, , p. 43 As a 16-year-old Rafael volunteered to the Requeté unit of Tercio de Abárzurza,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 in few days time taking positions at Alto de León passGambra'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 and attempting to break through Sierra de Guadarrama.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 José Ulíbarri, the Catholic parish priest from Úgar and temporary commander of the unit, remained Gambra's friend and sort of mentor for life.Santa Cruz 2004, p. 175 He spent the next 2 years at the stationary frontline in the Sierra, until in July 1938 he left to attend alférez provisional training.Julio Aróstegui, Combatientes Requetés en la Guerra Civil española, 1936-1939, Madrid 2013, , p. 389 In February 1939 he was seconded to Tercio del Alcázar,a battalion composed mostly of the Castilians, for its operational history see Aróstegui 2013, p. 653-667 commanding a platoon in the 4. Infantry Company.Aróstegui 2013, p. 667 Having reached Lliria at the moment of Nationalist victory,Ajencia Patriótica de Noticias de Acción Juvenil Española 13.01.04 he was decorated with many military awards.Medalla de la Campaña 1936-1939, Cruz Roja del Mérito Militar, Cruz de Guerra and Medalla de Voluntarios de Navarra, Rafael Gambra, gran filósofo tradicionalista, [in:] Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco, Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org
Rafael Gambra was married to María del Carmen Gutiérrez Sánchez (1921-1984), translator, scholarshe was professor of history and geography at Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu in Madrid, Miguel Arazuri, [in:] BiblioRomance service, available here and as Miguel Arazuri author of fairly popular novels.she authored some 30 novels, some of them forming part of a wider entity, see Miguel Arazuri, [in:] BiblioRomance service, available here She was also the founder and manager of Fundación Stella, an independent radio venture.Santa Cruz 2004, p. 176 The couple had three children.Larramendi 2004, p. 172, Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org Of their two sons, Andrés Gambra Gutiérrez is professor of medieval historyin 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 and the university official,secretario general and member of Consejo de Gobierno, D. Andrés Gambra Gutierrez, [in:] Universidad Rey Juan Carlos service, available here while José Miguel Gambra Gutiérrez is scholar in philosophy,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 both in Madrid. The two are active Traditionalists,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 the latter leading the sixtinos Carlists since 2010.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
Scholarship
In 1939 Gambra enrolled at the faculty of letters and philosophy at Universidad Central.Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org Influenced by Manuel García Morente and Salvador Minguijón Adrián,see Rafael Gambra, Aspectos del pensamiento de Salvador Minguijón, [in:] Revista international de sociologia 67 (1959), pp. 85-88 he graduated in 1942.Rafael Gambra, gran filósofo tradicionalista, [in:] Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco One year later he entered Cuerpo de Catedráticos Numerarios de Institutos Nacionales de Enseñanza Media.Ministerio de Educacion Nacional, Cátedra 1960-1961. Prontuario del Profesor, Madrid 1960, p. 1021 Promoted to Inspector Nacional de Enseñanzas Medias,María Teresa López del Castillo, La inspección del bachillerato en España (1845-1984), Madrid 2000, , p. 314 in 1945 Gambra obtained his PhD laurels as Doctor en Filosofía, his thesis dedicated to post-Hegelian approach to historiographic methodology.titled La interpretación materialista de la historia (una investigación social-histórica a la luz de la filosofía actual) The work, promoted by Juan Zaragüeta y Bengoechea, boiled down to highly critical review centred on Marx and Feuerbachsee 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 and was published in 1946.Rafael Gambra Ciudad 1920-2004, [in:] filosofia.org