Ignacio Romero Raizábal (1901-1975) was a Spanish writer and a Carlist activist. In the 1930s in Cantabria he gained some local recognition as a poet, while in the early Francoist era he was moderately known nationwide as the author of novels and historiographic accounts; he published some 35 volumes in total. In the 1930s he headed a Traditionalist review Tradición; during the post-war period he contributed mostly to Carlist periodicals, especially the daily El Pensamiento Navarro and the monthly Montejurra. He did not engage in politics, though he briefly served as secretary to the regent-claimant Don Javier and was one of key Carlist propagandists. Since the early 1960s, when the movement was subject to struggle for domination between traditionalists and progressists, Romero assumed an in-between position.
Family and youth
None of the sources consulted provides any information on Romero's distant ancestors. It appears that his paternal grandparents were related to Madrid, but there is nothing known about them.following the engagement ceremony in Santander the couple went briefly to Madrid, La Atalaya 18.11.96, available here His father Justo Romero Magro was born probably in the early 1870sin the year of 1896 he was referred to as “joven aventajado” who already gained his name in Madrid, La Atalaya 18.11.96, available here and died prematurely in the late 1900s.in April 1906 Justo Romero was reported as present during a religious ceremony in Bilbao, La Atalaya 29.04.06, available here; in June 1910 Josefa Raizabal was already referred to as a widow, Boletin Oficial de la Provincia de Santander 18.06.10, available here He practiced as a dentist; in the mid-1890s as a young doctor he reportedly earned his name in Madrid and served at the Spanish royal court, though details are not clear.La Atalaya 18.11.96, available here In 1896 he married Josefa Raizábal Legorburu (died 1941),Hoja Oficial de Lunes 03.02.41, available here the native of Santander; she was daughter to a recognized local dental surgeon and professor, Ramón Raizábal.La Voz Montañesa 16.04.81, available here The latter suggested that the son-in-law moves to the Cantabrian capital so that they could practice together.La Atalaya 18.11.96, available here The newly-wed couple indeed settled in Santander;La Atalaya 08.12.96, available here after Romero Magro got his credentials confirmed by the local authorities in 1897,La Atalaya 07.06.97, available here he started practicing and then opened his own dentist's office.La Atalaya 02.08.00, available here
Justo and Josefa had 4 children, born at the turn at the centuries: two sons and two daughters. The oldest son, Ignacio Romero Raizábal, perished in 1899 at 9 months of age;La Atalaya 21.07.99, available here his younger brother was named after him. The oldest daughter María de los Angeles married in 1927;La Montaña 10.09.27, available here her sister Pilar married in 1932;La Región 29.12.31, available here she was assassinated during the revolutionary turmoil in Santander in December 1936.she is referred to as a nun killed by the Republicans, Gregorio Rodríguez Fernández, El hábito y la cruz: religiosas asesinadas en la Guerra Civil española, Madrid 2006, ISBN 9788484076216, p. 479. It is not clear how the 1931 information on her marriage (she has also given birth to a child) can be reconciled against later historiographic claim about her membership in a religious order Following the death of Justo the widow took over the dentist's office; she was one of the first women practicing and has even attended scientific congresses.El Pueblo Cantábro 08.05.19, available here The half-orphaned children were brought up in a very pious way;at some time Ignacio Romero Raizábal entered the lay Tertiary Franciscan Order, Hoja Oficial de Lunes 10.02.75, available here Romero's maternal grandfather was a Franciscan tertiary and Romero's maternal aunt became a nun in the Carmelite order.La Atalaya 15.10.01, available here
Details of Romero's early education are not clear and it is not known what schools he frequented. At the turn of the 1910s and the 1920s he moved to Madrid and commenced studies at Facultad de Odontologia of Universidad Central; he graduated in 1925.La Atalaya 09.04.25, available here At unspecified time he did the obligatory military service.in 1931 he was referred to alferez in regimento Garellano, Diario Oficial del Ministerio de la Guerra 20.05.31, available here At some point he worked as assistant to the famous odontologist Florestán Aguilar Rodríguez;in the late 1920s Romero was placing press adverts of his dentist's office and introduced himself as a former assistant to Aguilar, compare e.g. La Voz de Cantabria 19.10.28, available here later he returned to Santander and opened his own dentist practice no later than in 1928;La Voz de Centabria 19.10.28, available here he practiced until 1974.the last identified press advert is from the summer of 1974, Hoja Oficial de Lunes 12.08.74, available here In 1931La Voz de Cantabria 24.01.31, available here Romero married María Rosa Arche Aguirre (died after 1974)Hoja Oficial de Lunes 10.02.75, available here from La Cavadafor a view of her native house see Google.Maps service, available here in Riotuerto county near Santander, daughter to a local modest landowner.Romero's father in law was Eulogio Arche Camporredondo, La Voz de Cantabria 18.02.31, available here, his mother-in-law was Delfina Aguirre González, El Cantábrico 05.03.11, available here. Eulogio Arche spent some time in Mexico, see Ficha de Arche Camporredondo, Eulogio, [in:] Portal de Archivos Españoles service, available here The couple had two children, both of them sons. The first one, Ignacio Romero Arche, died in 1936 at the age of 4.La Voz de Cantabria 14.07.36, available here, El Cantabrico 14.07.36, available here The younger son, Carlos Romero Arche,Hoja Oficial de Lunes 10.02.75, available here did not become a public figure. Neither any of the 3 grandsons from the Romero Korndorffer family is recognized nationally.Enrique is a lawyer, see Enrique Romero Korndorffer entry, [in:] Expansion service, available here. Other brothers were Carlos (perished due to a mountain accident in 2015) and Ignacio
Writer
Already during his college days Romero penned few dramas.titled El tigre de Castilla and Visita inesperada; they were neither published nor staged, Hoja Oficial de Lunes 17.02.75, available here In the late 1910se.g. in 1919 he was reciting own poetry in Círculo Católico in Santander, La Atalaya 20.09.19, available here and early 1920se.g. in 1921 he was reading own poetry in Asamblea of Capuchinos in Santander, La Basilica Teresiana June 1921, available here he was reciting own poems in Catholic círculos;at times he appeared with other slightly older poets, like José del Río Sainz, La Atalaya 04.03.24, available here. José del Río Sainz, or "Pick", in his youth a Carlist and also later somewhat sympathetic towards the movement, was a longtime friend of Romero Raizabal, see his De como volvio al Carlismo el gran "Pick", [in:] Montejurra 46 (1964), p. 7 most revolved around religious topics.the first poem mentioned in the press was En la Cruz y en el Sagrario, see La Atalaya 20.09.19, available here In 1924 he won first local poetic awardsEl Cantabrico 08.03.24, available here and the same year his poem appeared in a nationwide newspaper.El Siglo Futuro 07.01.24, available here In 1925 Romero published his first poetic volume, Un alto en el camino.La Revista de Santander 5 (1931), available here In 1928 it was followed by Montón de besos, issued in very limited edition and intended for friends only.Romero Raizábal, Ignacio, [in:] Escritores.Cantabros service, available here The subsequent volumes were La novia coqueta, prologued by Ramón de Solano y Polanco (1928)La Revista de Santander 5 (1931), available here and Los tres cuernos de satanás (1929);referred after La Revista de Santander 5 (1931), available here all explored mostly Christian and amorous themes and adhered to serene and popular tone.La Voz de Liebana 03.05.25, available here Boinas rojas (1933) produced a turn to history with emphasis on loyalty and male virtues,El Siglo Futuro 23.03.33, available here with return to previous lyrical and somewhat lighter tone in Rosario de amor (1934)Romero Raizábal, Ignacio, [in:] Escritores.Cantabros service, available here and El cancionero de la Novia formal (1935). Wartime events triggered collections marked by religious and patriotic flavor, En el nombre del Padre (1936) and Cancionero carlista (1938); the last one proved his most popular poetic volume and came out in 3 editions.Hoja Oficial de Lunes 17.02.75, available here
In the late 1930s Romero parted the poetic muse and turned to prose. In 1938 he published his first and best-known novel, La promesa del tulipán; its protagonist is a sybarite who undergoes evolution before he volunteers to requeté and finds reward, also in matters of the heart.Piotr Sawicki, La narrativa española de la Guerra Civil (1936-1975). Propaganda, testimonio y memoria creativa, Alicante 2010, pp. 66-67 The author returned to prose with brief Alma en otoño (1944) and Inés Tenorio (1947), the latter a historical variation of the Don Juan theme. Almas distantes (1949) featured two artists facing quasi-apocalyptical disaster embodied in the great fire of Santander,the novel was intended as the first part of a tetralogy, La Vanguardia 24.11.49, available here; however, subsequent parts have never materialized while Como hermanos (1951) again exploited the wartime past. El príncipe requeté (1965), was in fact a veiled documentary account dwelling on Civil War deeds of the Carlist prince, Gaetano Borbón-Parma; in order not to challenge the Francoist censorship, the author formatted the work as literary fiction.Hoja Oficial de Lunes 21.03.66, available here