José María Sentís Simeón

José María Sentís Simeón (1896–1989) was a Spanish politician, official and soldier. He is best known as General Director of Prisons for 8 months in 1942–43 and as civil governor of Guadalajara and Palencia, also during the early Francoism. In 1964–67 he served as the Cortes deputy. Throughout most of his life he was an active Carlist, in 1962–65 serving as Secretario General of Comunión Tradicionalista. He retired from the army in the rank of a colonel.

Family and youth

José María descended from a bourgeois Catalan family; his patriline ancestors for 3 generations exercised as physicians. His great-grandfather, Jaume Sentís Master, a native of Ulldemolins, in the late 18th century settled in Botarell, practicing as a surgeon.Dr. Jordi Sentís Bonet entry, [in:] Testimonios para la historia service, available here His son and José María's grandfather, Bernard Sentís Toldrà (1807–1881),Edelmira Doménech, Jacint Corbella, Nota sobre Bernat Sentís i Toldrá, cirurgiá de Riudoms en el segle XIX, [in:] Gimbernaut 42 (2004), p. 105 moved to Riudoms. He offered not only surgery but also medical advice; the two were licensed separately and he suffered penalty measures, before in 1843 both branches were administratively united.Dr. Jordi Sentís Bonet entry, [in:] Testimonios para la historia service, available here Apart from practicing, Bernard Sentís developed interest in science. From the 1840s till the 1860s he corresponded with the Barcelona Medical Academy, his contributions based on own medical experience.Doménech, Corbella 2004, pp. 107-108 Two of Bernard's sons, the older one Jaime Sentís Gran and the younger one Eusebio Sentís Gran (1853-1921) continued the family tradition, though the former as a doctor and the latter as a pharmacist.La Cruz 15.07.06, available here Jaime contributed to the organization of Carlists in the province of Tarragona.La Carcajada 08.04.1892, available here Eusebio,Eusebi Sentís Gran entry, [in:] Geni genealogical service, available here. the father of José María, remained in Riudoms, where he became one of the major taxpayers.Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Tarragona 11.05.17, available here

Eusebio married Ramona Simeón Polles (1853–1919).Eugeni Perea Simón, Carmelitans fills de Riudoms (s. XVII-XIX), [in:] Lo Floc 214 (2015), p. 15, also Eusebi Sentís Gran entry, [in:] Geni genealogical service, available here The couple had at least 7 children, born between 1890 and 1899.Eusebio (1890), Ramón (1892), Juan (1894), José María (1896), Dolores (1897), Antón (1898) and Carlos (1899) The Sentís family was fervently Catholic. Another José María's paternal uncle, Caetano Sentís Gran, was vicarLa Cruz 07.02.19, available here and canonLa Cruz 09.07.10, available here of the Tarragona archdiocese, apart from having been a theologian and an intellectual;La Cruz 19.11.35, available here two of José María paternal cousinsJosé Sentís Villanova and Placido Sentís Villanova also became priests, his paternal cousin Dolores became a nunPerea Simón 2015, pp. 14-15 and his own sister, Dolores, joined the Carmelites.Perea Simón 2015, p. 15 Also José María trained to be a priest;the oldest son Eusebio was expected to continue to family tradition and to inherit the pharmacy business; indeed, he graduated in pharmacy in 1909, Diario del Comercio 06.11.09, available here following early education in the Carmelitan college in Riudoms, he entered the Tarragona seminar.Joan-R. Corts i Salvat, Josep M. Toda i Serra, Josep M. Sentís: un soldat per Déu i la Pàtria, [in:] Lo Floc 80 (1986), p. 20 To great disappointment of his family he resigned after 6 years, opting for a military career instead. Having made up for missing curriculum in Insituto de Reus he entered Academía Militar of Barcelona, but was close to falling off due to his short-sightedness. He switched to Academia de Intendencia in Àvila, thanks to assistance of some colleagues dodging the health scrutiny.Corts i Salvat, Toda i Serra 1986, p. 21 In 1920 Sentís graduated in Toledo as alferez de infantería;La Epoca 09.07.20, available here he was assigned to Regimiento de Almansa, which at that time was stationed in the Tarragona military district.Anuario Militar de España 1921, p. 218, available here

In 1927La Cruz 26.11.27, available here José María married Josefa Mariné Sancho (died 1987) from Tarragona;ABC 08.08.89, available here , ABC 10.12.87, available here nothing is known about her family and herself. The couple settled in Tarragona and had two children, both of them daughters: Rosa MaríaRosá María Sentís Mariné (died 1985) married Javier Arsuaga Sarasola; their children are Juanjo, Javier, Ignacio and Belén Arsuaga Sentís, ABC 06.12.85, available here, ABC 13.03.05, available here and María Dolores Sentís Mariné.María Dolores Sentís Mariné (died 2004) married Marcos Ribas Gort; their children are Marcos and José María Ribas Sentís, ABC 18.10.04, available here José María outlived his older daughter; at the moment of his own death he had 6 grandchildren. None of them became a public figure. His first cousin once removed,José María's father Eusebio Sentís Gran and Carlos Sentís Anfruns' grandfather, Jaime Sentís Gran, were brothers Carlos Sentís, gained nationwide recognition as a Francoist journalist, in the late 1970s serving as Cortes deputy of UCD and acting in Catalanism, another one was vice-president of CF Barcelona in the 1960s.Ferran Sales, Peticion de dos años de cárcel para el empresario José María Sentís por una presunta estafa, [in:] El País 24.01.86, available here Son of another José María's cousin once removedJordi Sentís Bonnet, his great-grandfather Jaime Sentís Gran and José María's father were brothers is a respected Tarragona physician.Dr. Jordi Sentís Bonet entry, [in:] Testimonios para la historia service, available here The oldest brother of José María, Eusebio, in the 1920s alcalde of Riudoms,La Vanguardia 03.06.25, available here was executed by the Republicans in 1936;El Avisador Numantino 19.07.39, available here, also César Alcalá, La represión política en Cataluña (1936-1939), Madrid 2005, , p. 141 his sister Dolores managed to escape from the Republican zone and upon her later return to Spain has long served in education.she was awarded Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise, Perea Simón 2015, p. 15

Military career

In 1921 Sentís volunteered to serve in Morocco, where he was assigned to Regimiento de Luchana. In his later recollections he claimed to have served 2,5 years in Africa,Corts i Salvat, Toda i Serra 1986, p. 21 but as late as in 1926 he was still reported in the press as serving in the Dark Continent.El Telegrama del Rif 14.02.26, available here He completed the colonial experience as lieutenant before returning to his Almansa regiment. Sentís spent the late 1920s on routine garrison service; in 1927 he grew to captainLa Cruz 17.09.27, available here and assumed command of a machine-gun sub-unit.Corts i Salvat, Toda i Serra 1986, p. 21 When the Republic was declared Sentís remained capitán; the new military administration did not have much trust in his loyalty, especially that he did not make a secret of his Carlist, ultra-Right outlook.Corts i Salvat, Toda i Serra 1986, pp. 20-21 By the end of 1931 he was left with no clear assignment, reduced to the status of "disponibile".La Vanguardia 15.12.31, available here It is not clear whether he was reinstated before the new 1933 Right-wing government assumed power, yet prior to 1934 he was already assigned to the 4th Somatenes Division.Anuario Militar de España 1934, p. 182, available here During the October 1934 revolutionary unrest in Catalonia Sentís commanded troops which seized the building of Tarragona Gobierno Civil, occupied by members of Esquerra Republicana and Estat Catalá, and was vital to thwarting revolutionary attempts in the province. According to one source he assumed "funciones de gobernador Civil y de Orden Público",Joaquín Monserrat Cavaller, Joaquín Bau Nolla y la restauración de la Monarquía, Madrid 2001, , p. 79 according to another he was formally nominated the provincial Delegado de Orden Público.Joan Maria Thomàs, El Franquisme des de dins: un informe sobre Tarragona, [in:] Butlletí de la Societat Catalana d'Estudis Històrics 9 (1998), p. 152 In late 1935 he was back with his old Regimiento de Almansa.Anuario Militar de España 1936, p. 189, available here

Since the mid-1930s Sentís together with Joaquín Bau, later to become his lifelong friend,Monserrat Cavaller 2001, p. 80 was engaged in buildup of the Carlist organization network in the province.together with Joaquín Bau, Enrique Mur Brull, José María Bru Jardí and others, Monserrat Cavaller 2001, p. 78 In 1936 the activity transformed to full-scale conspiracy, including paramilitary training of Carlist requetés and securing arms for their units.e.g. the one in Solivella, Robert Vallverdú i Martí, El Carlisme Català Durant La Segona República Espanyola 1931-1936, Barcelona 2008, , p. 335 He remained engaged in negotiations with FalangeSentís was disappointed that Falange refused to take part if the coup unless on clear orders from own command, Vallverdú i Martí 2008, p. 299 and served as a link between the Carlists and the military plotters.Monserrat Cavaller 2001, p. 79 On July 18 their plan turned into a failure; despite significant strength of local requetés in Tarragona,local Requeté led by Josep Virgili i Roig accounted to 500 men in Tarragona and perhaps 1000 in the province; on July 18 they grouped ready for action and awaited orders from the military, which have never come, Vallverdú i Martí 2008, pp. 328-329 poor communication among the conspiratorson July 18 as representative of the military Sentís travelled to Benicàssim to co-ordinate the action with Joaquín Bau, who had already left; disoriented, he retutned to Tarragona, Monserrat Cavaller 2001, p. 79 and dilatory stand of the militarythe commanding officer in the Almansa regiment was coronel Martínez Peñalver. He awaited orders from the Barcelona military headquarters and adopted a passive and dilatory tactics, Vallverdú i Martí 2008, pp. 328-329. According to another version, Martínez Peñalver was loyal to the Republic, refused to declare martial law and later in July he led Republican attack on Teruel, José Ramón Sanchis Alfonso, Nuevas aportaciones sobre la guerra civil en la provincia de Teruel a través de la prensa valenciana (julio-agosto de 1936), [in:] memoriacastello service, available here led to their passive, wait-and-see policy.

Once it became clear that in Catalonia the coup failed, Sentís first went into hiding and then having obtained false French ID papers left Barcelona on an Italian ship. From Genoa he was driven across Southern France and in August he entered the Nationalist zone in Navarre.Corts i Salvat, Toda i Serra 1986, pp. 21-22 Immediately reporting to Burgos, he was assigned to an unspecified unit, deployed on the Madrid front. It is there where Sentís got wounded twice; heavy injuries suffered due to enemy mortar fire landed him in the hospital.Corts i Salvat, Toda i Serra 1986, p. 22 He spent there at least a few months before in November 1937 he was nominated commander of Tercio de Montserrat, the Catalan battalion-type requeté unit. At the time the Tercio was stationed near Zaragoza, being brought back to strength following decimation suffered during the battle of Codo; Sentís spent just 2 months heading the battalion and did not lead it in combat; in November 1937 he was reassigned to administration duties.Julio Aróstegui, Combatientes Requetés en la Guerra Civil española, 1936-1939, Madrid 2013, , p. 692

Official: provincial assignments