Jesús Comín y Sagüés (19 April 1889 – 4 March 1939) was a Spanish Carlist politician and soldier. He has been twice elected deputy to the Republican Cortes. He is also recognized for his role during early days of the Civil War, when he decisively contributed to Nationalist seizure of Zaragoza and large part of Aragón.
Family and youth
The well established Comín family for generations has been producing locally distinguished figures. Jesus’ great-grandfather sided with Carlos V during the First Carlist War and sought refuge on exile afterwards.Comín y Sarté, Bienvenido entry, [in:] Gran Encyclopedia Aragonesa, available here His son, Bienvenido Comín Sarté (1828-1880), became a recognized lawyer, known as "el abogado de los pobres",Comín y Sarté, Bienvenido entry, [in:] Gran Encyclopedia Aragonesa and member of the Zaragoza ayuntamiento. He sided with Carlos VII during the Third Carlist War, member of the Royal Council and leader of Junta Provincial Católico-Monárquica.Melchor Ferrer, Breve historia del legitimismo español, Madrid 1958, pp. 55, 59 He too had to flee abroad; upon return he grew to a distinguished Zaragoza law scholar, Traditionalist thinkerJacek Bartyzel, Nic bez Boga, nic wbrew tradycji, Radzymin 2015, , p. 90 and writer.namely author of theoretical works on Catholic and Carlist thought, though also fathering a few novels: El Cristianismo y la ciencia del Derecho en sus relaciones con la civilización, Madrid 1857, Catolicismo y racionalismo. Estudio sobre la literatura católica del siglo xix, Zaragoza 1867-1868, Apuntes de literatura cristiana, Zaragoza 1866, La política tradicional de España, Zaragoza 1870, Virgen y mártir. Novela histórico-religiosa, Zaragoza 1876, plus unpublished works Until death he continued as regional party leader in Aragon.Comín y Sarté, Bienvenido entry, [in:] Gran Encyclopedia Aragonesa
Bienvenido's son and the uncle of Jesús, Pascual Comín Moya, in 1919 briefly was the national party jefe.Comín y Moya, Pascual entry [in:] Gran Encyclopedia Aragonesa, available here , Ferrer 1958, p. 102 Pascual's brother and Jesús' father, Francisco Javier Comín Moya (1857-1932), has not occupied major posts in the party, engaging rather in local Catholic periodicals like El Noticiero.Manuel Marínez Neira, Comín Moya, Francisco Javier entry, [in:] Diccionario de catedráticos españoles de derecho (2011), available here His prestigious position in the Zaragoza realm resulted from his stand as a recognized academic: in 1895 he assumed Cátedra de procedimientos judiciales y práctica forense of the University of Zaragoza and retained the position for the following 35 years. In 1921 he became dean of the Facultad de derecho, the post held - since 1931 as honorary dean - until death.Marínez Neira 2011 Francisco Javier was married to Rosario Sagüés Mugiro;see Rosario Sagüés y Muguiro entry, [in:] Geneallnet service, available here, also Sagüés genealogy explained at Antzinako service, available here it is not clear how many children the couple had.
None of the sources consulted provides information on early education of Jesús. Upon receiving bachillerato he entered Facultad de Derecho at Universidad de Zaragoza; his graduation in jurisprudence is not confirmed, though later on occasionally the press referred to him "abogado".Alberto Aguilera Hernández, Ramiro Adiego Sevilla, Una difícil convivencia: la Iglesia católica en la Borja republicana (1931-1936), [in:] Pilar Salomón, Gustavo Alares y Pedro Rújula (eds.), Historia, pasado y memoria en el mundo contemporáneo, Teruel 2014, , p. 338, also El Siglo Futuro 23.07.34, available here It is known, however, that he was excellent student in Filosofia y Letras, graduating in 1913 with premio extraordinario;La Correspondencia de España 02.10.13, available here at unspecified date he reached the grade of doctor in Philosophy and Letters, still in Zaragoza.Jesús Comín Sagues, [in:] Gabriela Sierra Cibiriain, Francisco Gracia, (eds.), Zaragoza en el Congreso de los Diputados, Zaragoza 2012, , p. 37
In 1920La Correspondencia de España 14.06.20, available here Jesús Comín Sagüés married a Catalan, María Pilar Ros Martínez (1896–1973);Comín y Sagues Jesús entry, [in:] Gran Encyclopedia Aragonesa, available here , also La Vanguardia 22.09.73, available here the couple had seven children,Comín y Sagues Jesús entry, [in:] Gran Encyclopedia Aragonesa brought up in fervently Catholic ambience.according to Alfonso Carlos Comín, "en el seno de mi familia [...] política y religión aparecen siempre estrechamente unidas. Para ella la guerra habia sido una auténtica crusada", quoted after Francisco J. Carmona, Cambios en la identidad católica: juventud de Alfonso Carlos Comín, Madrid, 1995, , p. 57 The only one which became a nationwide known figure was Alfonso Carlos Comín Ros. He gained recognition for theoretical attempt to merge militant Communism with Christianity, dubbed cristiano-marxismo; political prisoner in the Francoist Spain, he was one of the PSUC and PCE leaders.see e.g. Francisco Martínez Hoyos, La cruz y el martillo: Alfonso Carlos Comín y los cristianos comunistas, Barcelona 2009, , Agustín García Chicón, La antropología cristiano-marxista en Alfonso Carlos Comín, Malaga 2002, María Pilar Comín RosLa Vanguardia 22.03.73, available here; an homage article in La Vanguardia 25.11.97, available here and Javier Comín RosLa Vanguardia 15.02.95, available here were locally known in Catalonia as contributors to the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia; María Pilar ran the section on women's fashion. Jesús grandson and Alfonso Carlos' son, Antoni Comín i Oliveres, is a Catalan Separatist politician.see e.g. his blog here or his Twitter account here He was the Minister of Health of the Executive Council of Catalonia between 2016 and 2017. The older brother of Jesús, Francisco Javier, specialized in commercial law and served as catedrático in a number of Spanish universities; another one, Jose Maria, was active as Carlist politician, in the 1940s he joined Carloctavismoin 1950, Francisco de las Heras y Borrero, Un pretendiente desconocido. Carlos de Habsburgo. El otro candidato de Franco, Madrid 2004, , p. 84 and in the 1950s recognized Don Juan as a legitimate Carlist heir.Robert Vallverdú i Martí, La metamorfosi del carlisme català: del "Déu, Pàtria i Rei" a l'Assamblea de Catalunya (1936-1975), Barcelona 2014, , p. 157
Public servant
Upon graduation Comín applied for entry into Cuerpo de Archiveros, Bibliotecarios y Arqueólogos, a state-controlled corporation entrusted with protection of national cultural heritage; following the nationwide contest process he emerged victorious as the 3rd best among 45 successful candidates nationwide and in 1915 was admitted to the corps.ABC 14.07.15, available here He was assigned to Biblioteca Universidaria de ZaragozaRevista General de Bellas Artes 15.08.15, available here with the annual salary of 3,000 pesetas.Revista General de Bellas Artes 07.11.18, available here; in 1915 daily wage of a miner in Vizcay was 3,44 ptas During the next few years Comín worked as an archivist in the university and elsewhere, taking care of various archival projects in Aragón and beyond: he was noted as appointed in 1919 to Archivo de Hacienda de ZamoraRevista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos 1921, p. 166 and in 1921 nominated director of the local Teruel archive.Estado actual de los estudios sobre Aragón, vol. 1, Zaragoza 1974, p. 59 It is not clear how long he carried on with the librarian and archivist tasks; none of the contemporary sources consulted referred to him as such after the mid-1920s. However, he remained member of the corps until 1936; in September the appropriate ministry of the Republican government relegated Comín from Cuerpo de Archiveros, Bibliotecarios y Arqueólogos.La Libertad 11.09.36, available Revista General de Bellas Artes
Some time during the last years of the Restoration Comín commenced working at Facultad de Filosofía y Letras at the Zaragoza University, where at that time his father was member of the academic Junta de Gobierno. In 1920, apart from having carrying on with his librarian duties, he was also noted as professor auxiliar at the faculty of philosophy and letters.La Correspondencia de España 14.06.20, available here An apparently temporary assignment was prolonged in 1924. He signed a new contract for the following 4 years, though there was no professional progress recorded; he remained professor auxiliar temporal.Heraldo Alaves 10.05.24, available here It is not clear what his exact role was and in particular, whether he assumed senior teaching duties or rather performed junior academic roles; he is listed as auxiliary member of the Filosofía y Letras faculty staff in the late 1920sEl Imparcial 19.01.26, available here and in the early 1930s.Anuario de la Facultad de Medicina. Curso 1929-1930, p. 23, available here
Comín's position in the academic realm of the Republic is uncertain; it is not clear whether he continued working at the University, either as a librarian or as a scholar. Occasionally he was referred to as "catedrático";El Cruzado Español 01.12.31, available here a present-day scholar names him "Professor Jesús Comín"Martin Blinkhorn, Spain in conflict 1931-1939: democracy and its enemies, London 1986, , p. 198 and even claims he chaired a faculty, but points to Law instead of Letters.Martin Blinkhorn, Carlism and Crisis in Spain, Cambridge 2008, p. 124 The official Cortes service referred to him as "abogado" rather than as a scholar.see the Cortes service, available here None of the sources consulted lists any Comín's scholarly works. A rather hagiographical and outdated encyclopedic entry notes his extensive culture and asserts that he specialized in political, philosophical, literary and historical studies.Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana, Madrid 1944, vol. 3, pp. 389-390 A monograph dedicated to Zaragoza University staff supporting the Nationalist rebels of 1936 does not list Comín at all.see Angel Alcaide Fernández, El apoyo de la Universidad de Zaragoza a la sublevación militar de 1936, [in:] Ignacio Peiró Martín, Guillermo Vicente y Guerrero (eds.), Estudios históricos sobre la Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza 2010, , pp. 339-351; those named as key pro-Nationalist scholars were Manuel Sancho Izquierdo and Luis del Valle, see also sub-chapter "Lar raíces sociales de la universidad fascista". According to the author, "members of the academic community of the 1930s formed part of a privileged social group" (pp. 349-350) and "en definitiva, ese sector universitario e intelectual de Zaragoza apoyó de una manera tan clara a la sublevación porque formaba parte de la misma red de intereses que había planeado y preparado el golpe de Estado, y de la misma red de intereses que se benefició de él" (p. 351)
Early politics
Born and raised in the iconic Carlist Aragón dynasty, Jesús was from his childhood growing accustomed to regional and national party leaders visiting his family home. As a teenager he was active in Carlist juvenile organizations, and in 1912 he rose to leader of the local Agrupación Escolar Tradicionalista.La Tradición 28.06.12, available here At that time he was already active beyond his native Aragón, e.g. when leading a group of Navarrese youth during pilgrimage to the Zaragoza sanctuary of Virgen del Pilar.El Eco de Navarra 22.05.12, available here In the 1910s Carlism was suffering from conflict between the claimant, Don Jaime, and the key party theorist, Juan Vázquez de Mella; the Comín family, though like de Mella assuming somewhat Germanophile positions during the Great War, remained loyal to their king. Jesús career in the party ranks was boosted when his uncle assumed leadership of Comunión Católico-Monárquica; the same year he entered Comité de Acción Jaimista, a loyalist body working to mobilize support for the pretender.Comín y Sagues Jesús entry, [in:] Gran Encyclopedia Aragonesa