Xosé Manuel Beiras facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Xosé Manuel Beiras
Xosé Manuel Beiras in 2015
Member of the Parliament of Galicia
In office 13 November 2012 – 21 October 2016
Constituency	A Coruña
In office 24 November 1985 – 19 June 2005
Constituency	A Coruña
Personal details
Born	Xosé Manuel Hixinio Beiras Torrado (1936-04-07) 7 April 1936 (age 89) Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Political party	Encontro Irmandiño (2007–present) Renewal–Nationalist Brotherhood (2012–present)
Other political affiliations	Galician Socialist Party (1963–1977) Galician Nationalist Bloc (1982–2012)
Alma mater	University of Santiago de Compostela
Profession	Economist

Xosé Manuel Hixinio Beiras Torrado (born 7 April 1936) is a well-known Galician politician, economist, writer, and thinker. He is a professor of Structural Economy at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He used to be part of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG). Today, he leads a political party called Renewal–Nationalist Brotherhood, which supports independence for Galicia. He has also served as a member of the Galician parliament.

Academic Journey

Xosé Manuel Beiras finished his law degree in 1957 at the University of Santiago de Compostela. After that, he moved to Paris to study economics at the University of the Sorbonne. He also learned French language and literature there.

In 1960, he started teaching political economy at the Complutense University of Madrid. A year later, in 1961, he went to London to continue his studies at the London School of Economics.

During 1966 and 1967, Beiras received a scholarship from the Juan March Foundation. This allowed him to do research in Paris. While in France, he learned about "internal colonialism" from Robèrt Lafont. This idea, about how one region might be treated like a colony within a country, became important in his political thinking.

He was the vice-director of the Revista de Economia da Galiza (Galician Journal of Economics) from 1963 to 1968. In 1967, he won an award for his book O problema do desenrolo na Galiza rural (The Problem of Development in Rural Galicia). In 1968, he returned to Galicia and became a lecturer in economy at the University of Santiago de Compostela.

In 1970, he published his doctoral paper, Estructura y problemas de la poblacion gallega (Structure and Problems of the Galician Population). This paper earned him a special award and a job as an associate professor in structural economy.

In 1972, he published another important book, O atraso económico da Galiza (The Economic Underdevelopment of Galicia). He became a temporary dean at the university in 1975. He also led a project on modernizing farming in Galicia. In 1977, he joined the Real Academia Galega (The Royal Galician Academy). He left this academy in 1982 because he disagreed with their language policies. In 1980, Beiras became a head professor of structural economy at the University of Santiago de Compostela. During the 1980s, he wrote many books on economics, politics, and literature. He also translated French classic books into Galician.

Political Career

Xosé Manuel Beiras was one of the people who started the Galician Socialist Party in 1963. This was a secret party during the time of Francoist Spain. In 1964, he became responsible for international relations, which helped him connect with other Socialist groups in Europe. He became the party's Secretary General in 1971. However, he resigned in 1977 after the party did not do well in the first democratic elections in Spain after Franco's death.

In 1982, Beiras helped create the BNG (Galician Nationalist Bloc). He became a member of its main leadership group. In 1985, he won a seat in the Galician Parliament. He slowly became the main leader of Galician nationalism. Beiras led the BNG to its best election results ever in 1997, getting support from almost 25% of voters.

In 2004, he made agreements with nationalist parties from Catalonia and the Basque Country. This was to get more media attention and have more political power in the Spanish Parliament. In the same year, 2004, he decided not to run for Galician presidency in the next election. He planned to slowly leave politics. However, he was not happy with how the BNG was working internally after he stepped down as leader. So, he helped create a group called Encontro Irmandinho within the party. This group aimed to make the party more open and democratic.

After leaving the main leadership of BNG, Beiras became active in anti-globalization movements. These include groups like Altermundo and the World Social Forum (WSF). In 2008, he was invited to join the council of the WSF. Beiras also helped start a political foundation called Galiza Sempre, and he has been its president since 1999.

Writing and Other Interests

Beiras has written many books and articles about politics and economics. He is also interested in literature and music, and he is a skilled pianist. He helped create publishing houses like Editorial Galaxia and Edicións Laiovento. He regularly writes columns for the newspaper Galicia Hoxe. Sometimes, his articles appear in A Nosa Terra and the important Galician cultural magazine Grial.

Selected Books

• Antígona (a translation of Jean Anouilh's Antigone into Galician, with Xosé Luís Franco Grande), 1959
• O problema do desenrolo na Galiza rural (The Problem of Development in Rural Galicia), 1967
• Introducción á economía galega de hoxe (Introduction to Today's Galician Economy) (with others), 1969
• Estructura y problemas de la población gallega (Structure and Problems of the Galician Population), 1970
• O atraso económico de Galiza (The Economic Underdevelopment of Galicia), 1972
• A Galiza rural na encrucillada (Rural Galicia at the Crossroads), 1975
• Contaminación industrial e desenvolvimento (Industrial Pollution and Development), 1975
• O atraso e Nós. Aportación para un debate encol o atraso económico (Underdevelopment and Us. Contribution to a Debate on Economic Underdevelopment), 1982
• Dende Galiza: Marx. Homenaxe a Marx no 1º centenario da súa morte (From Galicia: Marx. Homage to Marx on the 1st Centenary of His Death) (with others), 1984
• Por unha Galiza liberada (For a Liberated Galicia), 1984
• Constitución española e nacionalismo galego: unha visión socialista (Spanish Constitution and Galician Nationalism: A Socialist View), 1985
• Cartas a un amigo alemán (a translation of Albert Camus' Lettres à un ami allemand into Galician), 1987
• Os xustos (a translation of Albert Camus' Les Justes into Galician), 1987
• Prosas de combate e maldicer (Combat and Cursing Prose), 1991
• O estado da nación (The State of the Nation), 1996
• A poboación galega no século XX (The Galician Population in the 20th Century) (with A. López Rodríguez), 1999

See also

In Spanish: Xosé Manuel Beiras para niños

• Galician nationalism
• Galician Nationalist Bloc