Ricardo Mella facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ricardo Mella
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| Born | April 23, 1861 Vigo
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| Died | August 7, 1925 (aged 64) Vigo
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| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Writer, pedagogue, surveyor |
Ricardo Mella Cea (born April 13, 1861 – died August 7, 1925) was an important Spanish writer, thinker, and activist in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was known for his ideas about anarchism, which is a political belief that people should live without a government, working together freely.
Ricardo Mella was very smart and knew a lot about many different subjects. He also spoke several languages, including French, English, and Italian. Another famous thinker, Federica Montseny, once said he was one of the most insightful Spanish anarchist thinkers. Ricardo Mella was also the father of Urania Mella, a well-known feminist, and Ricardo Mella Serrano, a socialist politician.
Ricardo Mella's Early Life
Ricardo Mella was born in a place called Gamboa, in Vigo, which is a city in Galicia. He went to primary school there. His parents were Dolores Cea Fernández and José Mella Buján. His father was a hat maker and believed in federal republicanism. This idea influenced young Ricardo, teaching him to respect republican and democratic ideals. He also admired a leader named Francisco Pi y Margall.
When Ricardo was 16, he joined the Federal Democratic Republican Party of Spain. He quickly became its secretary. He strongly supported the idea of Galicia having its own political freedom and self-rule.
First Jobs and Writing
When he was young, Ricardo Mella worked for a shipping company in Vigo. At that time, Vigo was growing fast as a port and business city. However, many workers in Galicia still lived in poor conditions and had to move away to find work.
During this time, Ricardo Mella started his career as a journalist. He wrote for a newspaper called La Verdad. This newspaper supported republican ideas and spoke up for the rights of workers in Galicia. He wrote about how workers were being treated unfairly.
His strong and sometimes controversial writings caused problems with a powerful politician named José Elduayen. Ricardo Mella claimed that this politician was involved in a money scandal at the Bank of Spain. In April 1881, a court ordered Mella to leave the area for over four years and pay a fine. Later, this punishment was made less strict.
In 1881, Mella started his own newspaper in Vigo called La Propaganda. This newspaper focused on workers' issues and federalist ideas. It was published until 1885.
Life in Exile
In 1882, Ricardo Mella had to move to Madrid because of his court sentence. There, he met Juan Serrano again, who was a friend. He married Juan Serrano's daughter, Esperanza Serrano Rivera. They had 12 children together.
In 1884, he helped translate an important book called God and State by Bakunin into Spanish. He worked with two newspapers, Acracia and El Productor, on this project.
New Career and Awards
Following his father-in-law's advice, Mella studied to become a surveyor, which is someone who measures land. He then moved to Andalusia for work. In Seville, he started several new newspapers, including La Solidaridad in 1888.
Ricardo Mella took part in two important Socialist Competitions in 1885 and 1889. He submitted eight essays to these competitions, and all of them won prizes! Some of his winning essays were about:
- The problem of people leaving Galicia to find work.
- Differences between communism and collectivism (two types of economic systems).
- Anarchy: its past, present, and future.
- Short notes on human feelings.
- A story about a new perfect society.
- The scientific basis of collectivism.
- How to organize, protest, and start a revolution.
- The Chicago crime (a historical event).
Return to Galicia
In 1895, Ricardo Mella came back to Vigo. He stayed there for a short time before moving to Pontevedra in 1897. In Pontevedra, he worked on building a railroad. He also wrote for several newspapers, including La Unión Republicana, El Progresso, and El Corsario.
He spoke out against the unfair execution of anarchists in Montjuic. He also started sharing anarchist ideas with farmers in Galicia. At the same time, he wrote for many other newspapers and magazines in places like Madrid, New York, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and Paris.
In 1896, he published a book called Lombroso y los anarquistas. In this book, he disagreed with the ideas of a criminologist named Cesare Lombroso. Around the same time, he published other books and essays, including Los sucesos de Jerez (1893), La barbarie gubernamental en España (1897), La ley del número (1899), and Del amor, modo de acción y finalidad social (1900).
Ricardo Mella's Legacy
Ricardo Mella wrote more than 30 essays during his life. Some of his writings won international awards and were translated into many languages, like Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, English, and French. He also wrote for many newspapers and magazines in different countries.
His ideas greatly influenced the early beliefs of the CNT, which was a large workers' union in Spain. Three main ideas from Mella's writings were very important to them:
- Everyone needs to grow and develop their mind and body, in many different ways.
- Everyone has the right to freely meet these needs for development.
- Everyone can meet these needs by working together voluntarily.
Ricardo Mella's Works
Articles and Essays
- El problema de la emigración en Galicia (The Problem of Emigration in Galicia).
- Diferencias entre el comunismo y el colectivismo (Differences Between Communism and Collectivism).
- La reacción en la revolución (Reaction in the Revolution).
- La Anarquía no admite adjetivos (Anarchy Does Not Admit Adjectives).
- La Anarquía: origen progreso, evoluciones, definiciones e importancia actual y futura de éste principio social (Anarchy: Origin, Progress, Evolutions, Definitions, and Current and Future Importance of This Social Principle).
- Breves apuntes sobre las pasiones humanas (Brief Notes on Human Passions).
- La nueva utopía (The New Utopia).
- El colectivismo (Collectivism).
- Organización, agitación y revolución (Organization, Agitation, and Revolution).
- El crimen de Chicago (The Chicago Crime).
- La ley del número (The Law of Number).
- A los campesinos (To the Peasants).
- En defensa de la anarquía (In Defense of Anarchy).
- Doctrina y combate (Doctrine and Combat).
Books
- Lombroso y los anarquistas (Lombroso and the Anarchists).
- Plumazos (Feather Strokes) - a collection of articles.
- Ideario (Ideology) - with an introduction by José Prat.
Translations
- God and the State by Mikhail Bakunin.
- La anarquía (Anarchy) by Errico Malatesta.
- La ciencia moderna y el anarquismo (Modern Science and Anarchism) by Piotr Kropotkin.
Images for kids
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Photo of his speech published in print called "Evolution and Revolution"
See also
In Spanish: Ricardo Mella para niños
