Marcelino Oreja Elósegui Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Marcelino Oreja Elósegui

Born	Marcelino Oreja Elósegui 1894 (1894) Ibarrangelu
Died	1934 (aged 39–40) Mondragón
Nationality	Spanish
Occupation	civil engineer
Known for	politician
Political party	Carlism

Marcelino Oreja Elósegui (1894–1934) was a Spanish businessman, Catholic activist, and Carlist politician. He was known for his work in engineering, journalism, and his efforts to unite Catholic groups in Spain.

Early Life and Family
Catholic Activism and Journalism
Business and Management
Political Career
Legacy
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Early Life and Family

Marcelino Oreja Elósegui came from a Basque family in Gipuzkoa, Spain. His grandfather was a doctor. His father, Basilio Oreja Echaniz, also a doctor, lived in Biscay and even served as a mayor.

Marcelino's mother, Cecilia Elósegui Ayala, was from a well-known family. His older brothers were active in Carlism, a traditionalist political movement in Spain. His brother Benigno became a famous doctor. Another brother, Ricardo, was a political leader in Gipuzkoa. He was elected to the Spanish parliament (Cortes Generales) and held important government jobs.

Marcelino was much younger than his brothers. He grew up in a very religious Catholic home. He studied civil engineering and became an "ingeniero de caminos, canales y puertos" (a type of civil engineer).

He married Purificación Aguirre Isasi. Her father was a traditionalist officer during the Third Carlist War. He also helped start a metalworking company called Union Cerrajera.

Marcelino's family continued to be involved in politics. His son, Marcelino Oreja Aguirre, became a diplomat and politician. His grandson, Marcelino Oreja Arburúa, was a politician in the European Parliament. Another grandson, Jaime Mayor Oreja, also served in the Spanish parliament and the European Parliament.

Catholic Activism and Journalism

Marcelino Oreja was a very religious person. In 1920, he joined the Asociación Católica Nacional de Propagandistas (ACNdP), an organization for Catholic lay people.

He helped create a conservative student union called Asociación Nacional de Estudiantes Católicos Españoles. He became its secretary general in Madrid. He spoke strongly against non-religious education and supported Catholic values in schools.

Later, he helped create another Catholic youth group, Juventud Católica Española. He traveled across Spain to set up branches and spoke at many meetings. People described him as a "vibrant and effusive" speaker.

In 1925, Oreja became a key figure in ACNdP. He was sent to the United States to learn about management. He studied administration and journalism at Columbia University. He also worked with major American newspapers like the Boston Globe and New York Times.

When he returned to Spain, Oreja praised the efficiency of American Catholic groups. He then joined El Debate, a major daily newspaper owned by a Catholic publishing house. He became its manager and helped improve its technology and advertising. He also helped set up a journalism school.

Business and Management

In the late 1920s, Marcelino Oreja moved to Mondragón in Gipuzkoa for family reasons. In 1927, he started working as a manager for Vidrieras Españolas, a glass and mirror company in Bilbao.

In 1928, he started his own construction company, Agromán. It won contracts for building projects. In 1929, he became secretary of the board for Obrascón, a large construction company in Bilbao.

In the early 1930s, Marcelino Oreja became the managing director of Union Cerrajera, the metalworking company his father-in-law helped found. This company was a mix between a regular company and a cooperative. Some people say he made Union Cerrajera one of the biggest businesses in Biscay, with about 1,500 employees.

Oreja was a new kind of manager. He tried to reduce conflicts between workers and management. He used ideas from Catholic teachings and traditionalist corporativism (a system where different groups in society work together). He co-founded Agrupación Vasca de Acción Social Cristiana in 1931 to promote these ideas.

As a manager, he cared about workplace safety, social insurance, and education for workers. He even helped create a Catholic trade union for workers at Union Cerrajera. However, he was strongly against other labor movements like Fascism and Marxism. He was seen as an enemy by the local UGT (a socialist trade union). He even said he would never hire a socialist or an anarchist.

Political Career

Marcelino Oreja followed his older brothers into Carlist politics when he was a teenager. He later joined a separate branch of the Traditionalist movement.

After the fall of the monarchy and the start of the Second Spanish Republic in the early 1930s, Oreja became a leader of the Basque Right.

In the 1931 Spanish general election, Oreja formed an alliance with the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party) and mainstream Carlism. He was elected as a deputy (a member of parliament) for the rural Biscay district.

As a deputy, he focused on getting autonomy (self-rule) for the Basque-Navarre region. He helped create the Estella Statute, a plan for Basque self-government. He also strongly supported the Church and tried to protect its role in education.

In 1932, Oreja joined the united Carlist organization, Comunión Tradicionalista. He also led the Biscay section of the Requetés, a fast-growing Carlist military group. He was re-elected to the Cortes in the 1933 Spanish general election, again in alliance with the PNV. He continued to support Basque autonomy, even though it was a difficult issue.

During the revolution of 1934, tensions were high in Mondragón. Marcelino Oreja was arrested at his home by socialist militiamen. After a short time, he was shot and killed.

Legacy

Marcelino Oreja was the most famous victim of the 1934 revolution in Spain. No other member of parliament was killed during the unrest. His death had a big impact on public debate in Spain.

The Right used his death to show the Left as violent and dangerous. For the Carlists, Oreja became a martyr. He was honored at the Fiesta de los Mártires de la Tradición, a yearly event for fallen Carlists. In Francoist Spain, many streets were named after him, including in Bilbao and Mislata.

His memory has been kept alive largely thanks to his son, Marcelino Oreja Aguirre, who was a well-known figure. Today, people in the Basque Country often remember Oreja for his work on Basque autonomy. However, they sometimes overlook his Carlist political beliefs. Left-leaning Basques may see him as an opponent because of his views on labor.