Antoni Gutiérrez Díaz
Born19 January 1929
Premià de Mar, Spain
Died6 October 2006(2006-10-06) (aged 77)
Terrassa, Spain
OccupationPhysician
Political party

Antoni Gutiérrez Díaz (1929–2006) was a Catalan physician and communist politician who held various posts. He is also known as El Guti.[1]

Early life and education

Gutiérrez was born in Premià de Mar on 19 January 1929.[2][3] His parents were originally from Málaga and settled in Premià de Mar.[3] His father was an anarcho-syndicalist activist and was arrested in 1934.[3]

Gutiérrez received a degree in medicine in Barcelona in 1953 and had further training in neonatology in Finland.[2][4] He was among the anti-Franco activists during his youth.[4]

Career and activities

Following his graduation Gutiérrez worked as a physician in Barcelona.[5] He became a member of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) in 1959.[4] He was arrested in December 1962 and detained in Burgos prison for eight years.[1][5] After his release he maintained his activities in secret due to the declaration of a state of emergency in 1969.[5] He was again arrested in October 1973.[5]

Gutiérrez was a deputy at the Spanish Parliament between 1977 and 1978. He was appointed minister without portfolio in the provisional government of Catalonia in 1977 and held the post until 1980.[2] Then he was elected to the Catalan Parliament and served there from 1980 to 1987.[2] He was the secretary general of the PSUC for two terms: between 1977 and 1981 and between 1982 and 1986.[6] He left the PSUC in 1986 and involved in the establishment of a new political party entitled Initiative for Catalonia Greens.[5]

Next Gutiérrez was elected to the European Parliament in 1987 and continued to serve there until 1999.[7] During his tenure at the European Parliament he was part of the Initiative for Catalonia Greens.[7] He served as the vice president of the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999.[7]

Views

From the 1950s Gutiérrez was one of the supporters of the Italian Communist Party which promoted a new version of communism not Stalinism in line with the Gramsci's view.[5] Therefore, he was not a pro-Soviet communist and was an adherent of Eurocommunism.[5][8] After leaving PSUC he adopted an eco-socialist view becoming a member of the Initiative for Catalonia Greens.[5]

Personal life and death

Gutiérrez was married and had three children.[5]

During a visit in Santiago de Compostela Gutiérrez was admitted to a hospital due to heart failure on 29 September 2006.[9] He had been in coma when he was transferred to the Mutua Hospital in Terrassa where he died on 6 October 2006.[2][9]

Awards and legacy

Gutiérrez was a recipient of the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia in 2006.[2]

There are many memorials for Gutiérrez in Barcelona.[2][10] In 2020 Txema Castiella published a book about him entitled El Guti. L’optimisme de la voluntat ISBN 978-84-297-7860-1.[1][11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jordi Amat (22 September 2020). "El Guti, político profesional". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Antoni Gutiérrez i Díaz". Galeria de metges Catalans (in Catalan). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Per Pep Martí (5 September 2020). "El Guti, el taumaturg de la unitat contra el franquisme". Nacio. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Biografía de Antoni Gutiérrez Díaz, histórico dirigente del PSUC, fallecido hoy". Europa Press (in Spanish). Barcelona. 6 October 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Michael Eaude (23 October 2006). "Obituary: Antoni Gutiérrez Díaz". The Guardian. ProQuest 2832604887. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  6. ↑ Maria Alemany (16 October 2020). "Los valores políticos del Guti". Catalunya Press (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "Antoni Gutiérrez Díaz". European Parliament. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Moderates gain power". The Globe and Mail. 23 March 1982. p. 15. ProQuest 386551953. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  9. 1 2 P. Soto (7 October 2007). "Fallece el histórico líder comunista catalán Antoni Gutiérrez". El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  10. ↑ Jordi Subirana (29 September 2018). "BCN pone el nombre de Gutiérrez Díaz al espigón de la Mar Bella". Metropoli (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "La biografia d'Antoni Gutiérrez Díaz 'el Guti' a la Biblioteca de Palafrugell". radiopalafrugell.cat (in Catalan). 21 January 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
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