Juan Víctor Pradera Larumbe (19 April 1872 – 6 September 1936) was a Spanish political theorist and a Carlist politician.
Family and youth
Víctor's paternal family originated from France; his grandfather, Juan Pradera Martinena, lived in the Basque town of Sare (Labourd province),Carlos Guinea Suárez, Víctor Pradera, (series Temas españoles, n. 37), Madrid 1953, available here but moved across the Pyrenees and settled in Endara de Etxalar.José Luis Orella Martínez, Víctor Pradera: Un católico en la vida pública de principios de siglo, Madrid 2000, , p. 14 Víctor's father, Francisco Pradera Leiza, was an indiano. As a youngster he emigrated to America and spent 16 years in Cuba;Orella Martínez 2000, p. 15 enriched, he returned to NavarreGuinea Suárez 1953, Orella Martínez 2000, p. 14, also Idioia Estornés Zubizarreta, Victor Pradera Larumbe entry at Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia, available here and married a pamplonesa,Orella Martínez 2000, p. 15 Filomena Larumbe,some sources prefer the “Larrumbe” spelling, see the official Cortes service here descendant to a petty bourgeoisie family. Her father, Ángel Larumbe Iturralde,Guinea Suárez 1953, Orella Martínez 2000, p. 14, LARUMBE ITURRALDE, Ángel entry at Gran Enciclopedia Navarra online available sided with the legitimists during the First Carlist War and narrowly escaped execution, later to settle in Vera de Bidasoa and to practise as a notary.he also supported the Carlists during the Second Carlist War, Guinea Suárez 1953, Orella Martínez 2000, p. 14 Juan Víctor was bornthe first Pradera’s biography claimed he was born 1873, see Maximiliano García Venero, Víctor Pradera, guerrillero de la unidad, Madrid 1943, s. 17, and this information has been adopted by almost all other authors; the recent biography claims the correct date is 1872, see Orella Martínez 2000, p. 17, also his El origen del primer católicismo Español, [PhD thesis], Madrid 2012, p. 213 as the first of four sons, Juan Víctor, Luis, Juanto distinguish between Juan Víctor and Juan José, the older brother was called Victor and this is how he passed into history, Guinea Suárez 1953 and Germán. In 1879 he moved with the family to San Sebastián following the professional lot of his father, who ran a commercial construction business.some sources claim he constructed houses, see Orella Martínez 2000, p. 15, some sources suggest he was running a commerce business related to construction, Francisco J. Carballo, Recordando a Víctor Pradera. Homenaje y crítica, [in:] Aportes 81 (2013), p. 99
Having obtained bachillerato in Instituto de San SebastiánOrella Martínez 2000, p. 15 in 1887Guinea Suárez 1953 he spent a year in Bordeaux and then another one in Bilbao, studying at the Jesuit Deusto college and preparing for engineer studies.Guinea Suárez 1953, Orella Martínez 2000, p. 15 Having moved to Madrid Pradera entered Escuela de Ingenieros,Guinea Suárez 1953, Orella Martínez 2000, p. 17; exact year of his graduation is unknown. He returned to Gipuzkoa in 1897Estornés Zubizarreta, Victor Pradera Larumbe, Orella Martínez 2000, p. 17 and settled in Tolosa, engaged in the paper mill business of his father.Guinea Suárez 1953 Reportedly successful as a manager, Pradera later amalgamated the family enterprise into the Papelera Española trust of Rafael Picavea and became a shareholder of this company,Orella Martínez 2000, p. 17 involved in its activities until the early 20th century.some authors claim he gave up business in 1902, see Orella Martínez 2000, p. 17, though he was reported as engaged as late as 1904, see Madrid Científico 1904, p. 19, available here
At the turn of the century he commenced studying law as an unenrolled student in Madrid,Guinea Suárez 1953, Carballo 2013, p. 101 which he continued for 2 years.at that time he was already a Cortes deputy; taking the exams unrecognised, Pradera did not reveal his deputy status, see Carballo 2013, p 101 Having graduated, in San Sebastián he opened the law chancery and practiced as Inspector General in Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Canales y Puertos simultaneously.Carballo 2013, p. 101 At unspecified date he obtained PhD in law in Madrid.Javier Ibarra, Biografías de los ilustres navarros del siglo XIX y parte del XX, v. 4, Pamplona 1953, p. 318 In 1899Guinea Suárez 1953 Pradera married a donostiarra, María Ortega,Carballo 2013, p. 101; Rafael Castela Santos, La ejemplar muerte del diputado carlista Víctor Pradera en 1936, [in:] A casa de Sarto, 13.10.05, available here with whom he had 4 children, Javier to become a prominent Francoist politician.see his entry at Indice Historico de Diputados, available here Víctor's grandson, Javier Pradera, made his name as a well-known anti-Francoist journalist and publisher, dubbed watchman of the Spanish transition to democracy.see El País 21.11.11, available here
Young Carlist During his academic years, Pradera was active in various Catholic organizations and developed interest in politics. Raised in a liberal ambience and – apart from his maternal grandfather – with no family antecedents, in the 1890s he neared Carlism as a result of his lectures; unlike most Traditionalists who inherited their outlook from forefathers, Pradera considered himself a “scientific Carlist”.Orella Martínez 2012, p. 183, Carballo 2013, p. 99 Already recognized as an orator, in 1899at a minimum legal age, Carballo 2013, p. 100 he was agreed to stand as an unofficialJosé María Remírez de Ganuza López, Las Elecciones Generales de 1898 y 1899 en Navarra, [in] Príncipe de Viana 49 (1988), p. 382 Carlist candidate in Tolosa. Benefitting from just commencing rapprochement between mainstream Carlists and the Integrists, he was elected defeating a governmental candidate;Agustín Fernández Escudero, El marqués de Cerralbo (1845-1922): biografía politica [PhD thesis], Madrid 2012, p. 360; Pradera was sworn two weeks behind schedule, the usual practice employed by the Carlists, who declined to swear obedience to the Alfonsist monarchy, see Guinea Suárez 1953 Matias Barrio appointed him speaker of the small Carlist minority.Carballo 2013, p. 100
In the aftermath of 1898 disaster Pradera formed the first wave of regeneracionistas, demanding profound if not revolutionary change.Guinea Suárez 1953 A young newcomer in the chamber, he regularly clashed with Silvela,apart from other issues, also protesting the cession of Caroline Islands to Germany, see Carballo 2013, p. 100 demonstrating logic combined with oratory skillsGuinea Suárez 1953 as well as hot temper.there were penal proceedings launched against Pradera for assaulting “agentes de la autoridad”, see La Época 22.01.00, available here Re-elected in 1901,this time as an official Carlist candidate, see Indice Historico de Diputados available here he went on confronting the old liberal enemies and took on the new ones, especially republican radicals and nationalists.Orella Martínez 2000, pp. 25-41 He intended to run for re-election in the subsequent campaign of 1903, but eventually resigned due to financial issues.a highly apologetic source claims that Pradera refused to engage in corruption practices, see Guinea Suárez 1953. Contemporary scholars suggest there was no corruption involved and he rather considered it immoral to finance his own campaign, see Carballo 2013, p. 101; ABC 04.09.86 claims he was defeated, see here In 1904 Pradera was elected from Tolosa to Diputación Provincial.though it is not clear whether he served only one term or was re-elected, Estornés Zubizarreta, Victor Pradera Larumbe, see also Gestión de Las Diputaciones available here Together with Esteban de Bilbao Eguía and Julio Urquijo he formed a new generation of activists, promoted by the claimant Carlos VII and the party leader marqués de Cerralbo in their bid to build a modern Carlist network.José Luis Orella Martínez, El origen del primer catolicismo social español [PhD thesis at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia], Madrid 2012, p. 223
Dissident
His deputy duties terminated, Pradera dedicated himself to family life, businesshe owned shares of a number of San Sebastián companies, see Felix Luengo Teixidor, Crecimiento económico y cambio social. Guipuscoa 1917-1923, Bilbao 1990, , p. 353, Ángel García-Sanz Marcotegui, Elites económicas y políticas en la Restauración, a diversidad de las derechas navarras [in:] Historia contemporánea 23 (2001), p. 602; apart from Papeleria Española the company identified was Cooperativa Eléctrica Donostiarra, see Juan Antonio Saez García, Infrastructuras de servicios urbanos, [in:] Geografia e historia de Donostia-San Sebastián, available here and intellectual work.Orella Martínez 2012, p. 213 He remained engaged in party life, though his relations with local leadership deteriorated. In course of the 1910 electoral campaign he sought rapprochement with the mauristas and supported a stand-alone candidate;José Joaquín Castañeda, son of Joaquín Castañeda y Otermín, see Juan Ramón de Andrés Martín, El cisma mellista. Historia de una ambición política, Madrid 2000, , p. 54 both were expelled from the party by its Gipuzkoan jefe, Tirso de Olazábal.Estornés Zubizarreta, Victor Pradera Larumbe. The background of this conflict remains unknown, though there are some suggestions in Luis M.a de Zavala y Fernández de Heredia (ed.), La sociedad vasca del siglo XIX en la correspondencia del Archivo de la Casa de Zavala, Lasarte 2008, , p. 67: “Siendo tildado su mandato como personalista, en 1910 expulsó a Víctor Pradera del Partido por indisciplina”; Juan Ramón de Andrés Martín, Precendentes del proyecto ultraderechista mellista en el periodo 1900-1912, [in:] Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, 202 (2005), p. 125 approaches this conflict as a pre-Mellist controversy; the press communique does not go into details, see El Imparcial 05.05.10, available here Re-admitted in 1912,following personal meeting with Don Jaime in San Jean de Luz in May 1912, see La correspondencia militar 14.05.12, available here Pradera continued his career as an orator on public meetings.Ana Calavia Urdaniz, «La Conciliación» de Pamplona y sus relaciones con los sindicatos católico-libres (1915-1923), [in:] Príncipe de Viana 49 (1988), p. 80 Addressing a wide range of issues, he was increasingly focused on confronting the emerging Basque national aspirations.Carballo 2013, p. 148 As he gained a nationwide expert recognition, in 1917 de Romanones called him into extra-parliamentarian committee to discuss Catalan autonomy.with Alcalá-Zamora, Sánchez de Toca and Maura, Orella Martínez 2012, p. 172, Elected to the Cortes in 1918,as substitute of de Mella, who refused to stand, El Siglo Futuro 08.02.18, available here he became the key Carlist speaker.in 1918 it was Pradera outlining the Carlist policy in the Cortes, Fernández Escudero 2012, p. 500 Forging friendship with Antonio Maura, he nevertheless opposed grand but hazy coalitions aimed at preserving shaky stability of the late Restoration. Aware of the forthcoming revolutionary tide,Pradera opposed amnesting Besteiro and Largo, convicted of 1917 revolt, Carballo 2013, p. 102 he advocated a radical Traditionalist change.Guinea Suárez 1953