Sara Berenguer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sara Berenguer
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Sara Berenguer (1940s)
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| Born | 1 January 1919 |
| Died | 8 June 2010 (aged 91) Montady, Occitania, France
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| Nationality | Catalan |
| Occupation | Writer, poet |
| Years active | 1936–2010 |
| Organization | Mujeres Libres |
| Movement | Anarcho-syndicalism, anarcha-feminism |
Sara Berenguer Laosa (1919–2010) was a writer and poet from Catalonia, Spain. She was a strong supporter of anarchism, which is a political idea about freedom and no rulers. She also believed in anarcha-feminism, which combines anarchist ideas with fighting for women's rights. Sara was very active in the Mujeres Libres movement, a group of women who worked for freedom and equality.
Biography
Sara Berenguer grew up in a working-class family. Her father was a bricklayer and believed strongly in freedom and equality for everyone.
She left school when she was 12 years old. At 13, she started working in a butcher's shop. She didn't like how workers were treated unfairly or the way women were sometimes looked down upon. So, she left several jobs. She became a dressmaker and later worked for herself until 1936.
Civil War Activities
When Sara was 17, a big conflict called the Spanish Civil War started in Spain in 1936. Her father went to fight and sadly passed away during the war. Sara became involved in the Spanish Revolution of 1936. She joined a group called the Revolutionary Committee in her neighborhood, Les Corts. She also worked with a timber union, helping as a mechanic and accountant. One day, she was put in charge of giving out weapons.
At the same time, Sara was a leader in the Libertarian Youth group, which was for young people who believed in freedom. She also helped run a libertarian center where she taught street children. There, she met Sol Ferrer, who was the daughter of a famous teacher named Francesc Ferrer. Sol taught Sara how to speak French.
In 1937, during a time of fighting in Barcelona, Sara helped defend a house for working-class women. This house was run by a libertarian activist named Amparo Poch y Gascón. In 1938, she joined a group called Solidaridad Internacional Antifascista (SIA), which means "International Anti-Fascist Solidarity." She visited the front lines of the war many times to help.
In October 1938, Sara joined the Mujeres Libres movement. She became a leader in their regional office. Here, she worked hard to fight against a lack of knowledge and to "educate women socially and culturally." Her goal was to help women become strong and independent.
Life in Exile
In January 1939, Sara had to leave Spain and go to France because of the war. She continued her work for the SIA in cities like Perpignan and Béziers. She tried to help people who were stuck in camps, including her partner, Jesús Guillén Bertolín.
During World War II, when Nazi Germany occupied France, Sara was part of a group called the CNT in Bram. She helped connect with the French Resistance, a secret group fighting against the occupation. After France was freed, she and Jesús continued to work with the CNT, which was now in exile.
In 1947, Sara taught shorthand courses for Spanish refugees. She also took part in theater groups organized by the libertarian movement. She was close to other anarchist activists, like Octavio Alberola and Cipriano Mera. In 1965, she helped with a journal called Frente Libertario.
From 1972 to 1976, Sara worked with Suceso Portales to edit and publish the magazine Mujeres Libres. Her home near Béziers was a common meeting place for people who believed in freedom. A film called De toda la vida (All Our Lives) was filmed there in 1986. Many important women from the movement, like Pepita Carpeña and Federica Montseny, were in the film.
Besides Mujeres Libres, Sara Berenguer wrote for many other libertarian newspapers and magazines. She also had her poems included in several collections. She contributed to a book called Mujeres libres: luchadoras libertarias (published in 1999). Sara won several awards for her poetry before she passed away on June 8, 2010.
See also
In Spanish: Sara Berenguer Laosa para niños
