Casimiro Sangenís Bertrán (1894–1936) was a Spanish lawyer, landowner and politician from Catalonia. In the 1910s he sided with the Maurista branch of conservatism. In the 1920s he joined the Primoderiverista structures and was active in Unión Patriotica, serving also in Diputacion Provincial of Lérida in 1924–1929. In the 1930s he approached Traditionalism. His career climaxed in 1933–1936, when as a Carlist deputy he held a mandate to the Cortes. He was also active in provincial Lérida branches of various agricultural organisations and presided over the Lérida structures of Instituto Agricolá Catalan de San Isidro.
Family and youth
First knights bearing the name of Sant Genís were recorded in the Catalan city of Balaguer already in 1271,Sangenis, Santgenis entry, [in:] Blasonari service, available here and since then they repeatedly keep appearing in municipal records; a patriotic lawyer Teodoro Sangenís from Balaguer was noted during the Napoleonic period.Antoni Sánchez i Carcelén, La Guerra del Francés a Lleida (1809-1814), [in:] Hispania Nova 8 (20078), p. 13 However, distant paternal ascendants of Casimiro are unknown. The only one identified was his father, Teodoro Sangenís Alós (1845Annuario Militar de España 1893, available here-after 1932).in 1932, when his wife passed away, Teodoro was still referred to as a widower, see José Miguel de Mayoralgo y Lodo, Movimiento Nobiliario 1931-1940, Madrid 1941, p. 23, available here In the mid-1870s he joined the medical corps of the army,Annuario Militar de España 1892, available here as médico segundo served in Cuba,La Gaceta de Sanidad Militar 10.01.77, available here, La Gaceta de Sanidad Militar 10.02.77, available here in the mid-1880s returned to the peninsulaEl Correo Militar 23.08.83, available here and in 1889 as médico mayor was posted to Lérida.El Correo Militar 14.06.89, available here Having retired in the 1890s,El Imparcial 31.01.92, available here in 1899 he was recorded as metje i propietari."doctor and landowner", La Veu del Segre 26.11.99, available here It is not clear whether he inherited or purchased landed property; in 1905 he was member of Junta Directiva of Cámara Agrícola of LéridaAnnuario-Riera 1905, available here and in 1915 served as alcalde of Balaguer.Revista Católica de las Cuestiones Sociales 4 (1915), available here His brothers also held mid-range administrative and juridical positions in the provinces of Lérida and Gerona.Vicente Sangenís Alós (paternal uncle of Casimiro) was a longtime magistrado and fiscal, also in Gerona, La Comarca de Lleyda 09.06.01, available here, and Guia Oficial de España 1902, available here. Antonio Sangenís Alós (another paternal uncle) was also an official, La Hacienda Nacional 15.05.08, available here
In 1886 in LéridaLa Correspondencia de España 08.08.86, available here Teodoro married Teresa Bertrán Viladot (died 1932);Mayoralgo y Lodo 1941, p. 23 her father (and the maternal grandfather of Casimiro) was Casimiro Bertrán Barbé, vice-consul of France in Lérida;La Correspondencia de España 08.08.86, available here. For his role of a lawyer see Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Baleares 05.02.70, available here. He died in 1891, El Día 16.11.91, available here a lawyer but also a terratinient, he owned an estate crowned with "bonita torre" at the banks of the Segre.Pleyan de Porta 1873, p. 36 Teodoro and Teresa settled in Lérida; it is not clear how many children they had.there have been no siblings identified There is neither anything known about the schooling years of the young Casimiro, which must have fallen on the early years of the 20th century; the only information available is that he studied law and graduated in the University of Barcelona prior to 1914.in 1914 he was noted as "abogado", La Correspondencia de España 05.10.15, available here In the mid-1910s he was already registered in the local Colegio de Abogados,La Vanguardia 19.06.14 yet none of the sources consulted claims he has ever practiced as a lawyer. In the late 1910s he was noted rather as "conocido e ilustrado y rico propietario", as apparently he has taken over the family economy.El Norte 24.05.19, available here
In 1917La Vanguardia 30.10.17 Sangenís married Carmen Corrià SalvadóMayoralgo y Lodo 1941, p. 23 (in some sources Salvador),Joan Sagués San José, Lleida en la Guerra Civil Espanyola (1936-1939) [PhD thesis Universistad de Lleida], Lleida 2001, p. 256 a girl from the nearby Artesa de LleidaDiario de Lérida 05.02.81, available here (died 1981).Diario de Lérida 03.02.81, available here She was daughter to Josep Corrià Melgoso,Sagués San José 2001, p. 256 also a local landowner and an entrepreneur in the olive oil business.he owned a "fabrica de aceite", which in 1931 was operated by his son and Casimiro's brother-in-law, Pablo Corrià Salvado, Guía Industrial y Artística de Cataluña 1931, available here The couple lived in Lérida, managing their landed property scattered also in the province of Barcelona.he had some landed property in Collbató, Segundo Inventario General de los Bienes Patrimoniales de la Ciudad de Barcelona, available here They had two children, Juan Casimiro and Dolores Sangenís Corrià.Diario de Lérida 03.02.81, available here Juan, initially a Carlist but later a Falangist,Diario de Lérida 24.01.67, available here became a high regime official during late Francoism; he served in the Cortes, as alcalde of Lérida and as president of Diputación Provincial. Dolores also made it to high society, as she married José Ma de Porcioles i Colomer, the longtime mayor of Barcelona from the late 1950s till the early 1970s.Diario de Lérida 24.01.67, available here Their son and the grandson of Casimiro, José María de Porcioles Sangenís, following a career in business and publishing when a retiree is currently recognized and active as an amateur historian of Barcelona.Jesús Sancho, José María de Porcioles: “El sueño de mi padre fue crear la gran Barcelona, pero no sé si se conseguirá”, [in:] La Vanguardia 30.01.20, available here, see also his Jose María de Porcioles Sangenís profile, [in:] LinkedIn service, available here
Dictatorship
It is not known what were political preferences of Casimiro's ancestors, though his paternal uncle was associated with Liberalism.Antonio Sangenis Alos represented the Liberals in the Balaguer council, Mir, Jarne, Sagués, Vicedo 2010, p. 443 Works on caciquismo in LéridaConxita Mir, Lleida (1890-1936): caciquisme polític i lluita electoral, Montserrat 1985, ISBN 9788472027169 and on Catalan Carlism of the late 19th century do not mention his father, except a brief note on the Sangenis family - unclear whether related - among prestigious Traditionalists in Barcelona."Gimbernat n'era un dels màxims impulsors, ja que apareix a gairebé totes les cròniques d'actes del Centre de carlistes fins a 1897, al costat dels noms d'Estefanell, Lamoglia, Sangenís o Ferran", Jordi Canal i Morell, El carlisme catala dins l'Espanya de la restauracio: un assaig de modernització politica (1888-1900), Barcelona 1998, ISBN 9788476022436, p. 111. The Sangenis are neither mentioned in a work dedicated to Carlist press in Lérida, see Francesc Closa, El finançament de la premsa carlina lleidatana: recursos econòmics i publicitat, [in:] Revista HMiC IX (2011), pp. 53-69 He was first noted in the press himself in 1914, when co-signing a letter which congratulated the government on adopting the neutral position during the Great War.La Correspondencia de España 05.10.14, available here Sometime in the mid-1910s he neared the Conservatives, as in 1919 Sangenis was already referred to as the one "que ha figurado siempre en el partído monárquico conservador".El Norte 24.05.19, available here Prior to general elections of this year he was initially rumored to stand on the conservative, anti-Lliga ticket to the Cortes from Lérida, but there is no follow-up known.El Norte 24.05.19 At the turn of the decades and in the early 1920s if mentioned in newspapers, it was due to his membership in provincial agricultural organizations.La Vanguardia 28.01.19
Following the Primo de Rivera coup in 1923 Sangenis engaged in institutions supporting the regime; in 1924 he entered Junta Directiva of Unión Patriótica in Borjas Blancas, and was its representative in Junta Provincial of UP.Diaris Nou entry, [in:] Página web d'Episodis de Castelldans, available here The same year he was appointed to Diputación Provincial of Lérida,Sangenis entered the Diputacion from the pool known as "directos"; another pool was reserved for members known as "corporativos", La Cruz 01.04.25, available here where he represented the district of Lérida - Borjas Blancas.Mir, Jarne, Sagués, Vicedo 2010, p. 459 He threw himself into numerous activities: corresponded with Mancomunitat on devolution of powers,Marc Macià Farré, Dictadura i democràcia. Les Borges Blanques 1923-1936, Lleida 2018, ISBN 9788491441076, p. 88 entered a commission dedicated to "obras públicas y comunicaciones"La Cruz 01.02.24, available here and as such supervised road construction works,e.g. see road from Borges Blanques to Espluga Calva, 12 km of length, Macià Farré 2016, p. 278 and was member of Diputación-related charity bodies.in 1925 he was member of Junta Provincial de Beneficiencia, Guía Oficial de España 1925, available here In 1926 he became jefe de obras públicas,La Cruz 16.02.26, available here e.g. working on water supply in the comarcain 1926 in Garrigas, El Dia Grafico 24.01.26, available here or (referred to in the press as "ingeniero jefe de Obras Públicas") on the road infrastructure.the reference to engineer is probably either erroneous or flattering, as no source claims that Sangenis completed technical studies, El Día Grafico 08.04.27, available here In the mid-1920s he entered Junta Provincial de Enseñanza IndustrialEl Dia Grafico 16.04.26, available here and the provincial Cruz Roja.El Dia Grafico 09.06.27, available here Sangenis a few times visited Minister of Labor in Madrid,El Debate 10.09.26, available here yet details of these talks are unknown. In 1927 he represented Lérida in Asamblea de Diputaciones Españolas.El Dia Grafico 11.06.27, available here In 1929 he rose to vice-president of the Diputación.El Dia Grafico 19.05.29, available here He remained in Comité Provincial of Unión Patriótica.Mir, Jarne, Sagués, Vicedo 2010, p. 355