Manuel Sacristán facts for kids

Manuel Sacristán Luzón (born in Madrid in 1925, died in Barcelona in 1985) was an important Spanish philosopher and writer. He was also a communist leader and a dedicated translator. He spent most of his life in Barcelona, where he taught at the university. Sacristán was known for his strong political beliefs and his efforts to bring new ideas to Spain.

Early Life and Education

Manuel Sacristán was born in Madrid in 1925. In 1940, he moved to Barcelona, where he lived for most of his life. As a young man, he joined the youth section of the Falange Española, a political group at the time.

He studied Law and Philosophy at the University of Barcelona. While there, he was also part of the cultural section of the Sindicato Español Universitario, which was the student union of the Falange.

Becoming a Deep Thinker

From 1954 to 1956, Sacristán moved to Münster, in Westphalia, Germany. There, he studied Mathematical Logic and the Philosophy of Science. During this time, he became a very skilled logician. He also became a strong Marxist thinker and a communist leader.

When he returned to Barcelona, he taught at the University of Barcelona. He worked in both the Philosophy and Economics departments.

Challenges in His Career

Manuel Sacristán's career at the university was often difficult. He was very active in politics. He became a leader in the underground Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC). He also played a big part in the student movement in Catalonia.

Because of his Marxist ideas, which he learned in Germany and brought to Spain, he was expelled from the University in 1965. In 1966, he helped create the Barcelona Democratic Students' Union. He was not allowed back into the university until after Franco's death. This was when democracy was restored in Spain.

After a tough period, he was finally appointed professor of Methodology of Social Sciences. This was at the University of Barcelona. In 1982 and 1983, he taught at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In Mexico, he met María Ángeles Lizón, who stayed with him until his death.

Magazines and Books

Starting in 1947, Sacristán was very active in creating and running different political and cultural magazines. He helped run the magazine Qvadrante with Juan Carlos García-Borrón. He also worked as an editor for Laye and Quaderns de Cultura. The latter was an underground journal for the PSUC.

He also directed and wrote for Nous Horitzons. In 1977, he was one of the founders of the magazine Materiales. In 1979, he started a new magazine called Mientras Tanto with Giulia Adinolfi. This magazine aimed to rethink communist ideas. It included new perspectives from ecology and feminist criticism.

Translator and Editor

Throughout his life, Manuel Sacristán was a very busy editor and translator for many publishing houses. He translated more than 80 books by various authors. Some of the most important authors he translated include Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Antonio Gramsci. Gramsci was a major influence on Sacristán's own thinking.

Other authors he translated were Mario Bunge, Theodor W. Adorno, Karl Korsch, Lukács, Galvano Della Volpe, Galbraith, and Marcuse.

Among his own writings, Introducción a la lógica y al análisis formal (1969) is very important. Many of his articles and short texts were collected and published after his death. These were put into several volumes called Panfletos y materiales (1983–1985).

Major Publishing Projects

In 1975, Sacristán started a big project. He wanted to publish a complete Spanish edition of the works of Marx and Engels. This project was planned to have 68 volumes. However, only twelve volumes were published. These included Sacristán's translations of Das Kapital, books 1 and 2, and the Anti-Dühring.

Sacristán also edited and translated an important collection of texts by Antonio Gramsci. This was published by Siglo XXI. His work as an editor always showed his strong dedication to research and teaching. He focused on philosophy, methods of study, and cultural criticism. He also wanted to be involved in the important debates of his time.

Political Involvement

Manuel Sacristán first connected with the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) during his first stay in Germany. He was a secret member of the governing bodies of the PSUC and PCE. For many years, he was very active in politics. This included work at the university and in cultural areas.

After the events of May 1968 in Paris and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, he started to have differences with his party's official views. He resigned from almost all his positions. However, he stayed with the party until the end of the 1970s. In 1979, he publicly stated that he no longer belonged to any political party.

In 1978, he joined the Antinuclear Committee of Catalonia. He was also part of the eco-pacifist and anti-NATO movements. He played a big role in forming the Federación de Enseñanza. This was an educational branch of the Comisiones Obreras trade union.

Legacy

Manuel Sacristán passed away on August 27, 1985, at the age of 59. Until his death, he continued his intense intellectual and political work. He became one of the most important Spanish political philosophers of the twentieth century.

See also

In Spanish: Manuel Sacristán para niños