Rosario Hernández Diéguez

Rosario Hernández Diéguez (nickname, A Calesa; Vigo, 17 February 1916 – Vigo, 3 September 1936) was a Spanish Galician newspaper hawker and trade unionist, affiliated with Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) and Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) (PSOE).^[1] Raped, mutilated, tortured, she died young, a victim of Franco's repression.^[2] A street in her hometown bears her name.

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Hernández, the second or maternal family name is Diéguez.

Rosario Hernández Diéguez
Born	17 February 1916 Vigo, Spain
Died	3 September 1936 (1936-09-04) (aged 20) Vigo, Spain
Other names	A Calesa
Occupation	newspaper hawker
Organizations	Unión General de Trabajadores Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Known for	trade unionist activism victim of Franco's repression

Biography

Rosario Hernández Diéguez was the daughter of an anarchist railwayman. Her home was on Calle Pino in Vigo. Everyone knew her by her nickname, "A Calesa".^[3]

She worked as a newspaper hawker in the doorway of the society "El Gimnasio" on Calle del Príncipe,^[4] reading out the news in the newspapers.^[3] She visited the UGT's Casa del pueblo of the UGT, and attended PSOE meetings. In sympathy with the latter, she actively participated in the worker demonstrations of the time.^[5][3]

Hernandez fled with the uprising of 18 July 1936. Captured and arrested on 3 September 1936.^[a] Imprisoned in the city's María Berdiales Fronton, she received meals brought in by her sister, Maria.^[6] Insolent, rather than submissive, devoted and obedient, she was shaved, raped, mutilated, and murdered^[5] in a Falange barracks. Her body was anchored to an iron grill^[6] before it was thrown off a boat in the Ria de Vigo, near the Cíes Islands.^[3]

Legacy

Rosario Hernández Diéguez Street marker in Vigo

A street in Vigo's Coutadas area, between the Os Rosais institute and Travesía de Vigo bears the name Rosario Hernández Diéguez.^[3]

In 2021, the story, "Rosario Hernández é un lugar", written by Marcos López Concepción, won the VIII Vigo Histórico Contest, organized by Editoral Elvira [es].^[5]

See also

• Women in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in the Spanish Civil War

Notes

1. According to the Concello de Vigo (vigo.org), Hernandez was arrested on 20 July 1936.^[1]