page_title: Mariano Puigdollers Oliver
section_title: Carlist
hierarchical_section_title: Mariano Puigdollers Oliver / Carlist
caption_attribution_description: Català: Banquet amb motiu d'un míting organitzat pel Cercle Tradicionalista. Restaurant del Parc, Barcelona.
context_page_description: Mariano Puigdollers Oliver was a Spanish academic, politician and civil servant. Between 1920 and 1966 he held various jurisprudence chairs in numerous Spanish universities, mostly in Valencia and in Madrid; he is known among key representatives of Spanish Natural law of the 1940s and 1950s. Initially a conservative monarchist, in the mid-1930s he joined Carlism and briefly served as its regional Valencian jefe. Since the late 1930s he identified himself with the Franco regime. During early and mid-Francoism he was employed at key posts at Dirección General de Asuntos Ecclesiásticos department within the Ministry of Justice, at Consejo Superior de Protección de Menores and at Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Between 1943 and 1965 he served in the Francoist Cortes. He is considered one of key officials implementng post-civil-war purges among the academics.
context_section_description: Despite his family Carlist antecedents Puigdollers is not known for any legitimist engagements prior to 1936. It is not clear when exactly and why he approached Comunión Tradicionalista, though some press notes suggest that his commitment to the cause lasted at least since the mid-1930s. During the 1936 electoral campaign to the Cortes he stood in Valencia province as a Traditionalist candidate within a broad right-wing alliance. Some 125,000 votes gathered were not enough to ensure triumph, but Puigdollers continued his political bid. In March 1936 the Carlist leader Manuel Fal Conde nominated him the regional party jefe, a fairly important position given relatively important role of Valencia in the nationwide Carlist network. None of the sources consulted provides details of the nomination and clarifies what mechanism elevated a well-known, but previously unrelated academic to the post of regional leader. Puigdollers assumed an active stance and was soon noted speaking at public Carlist rallies.
  In late spring of 1936 Puigdollers was among key civilians engaged in anti-Republican conspiracy in the Valencian region; as one of 3 members of Comité de Alzamiento he held talks with the military from UME when arranging preparations for the rising. His exact whereabouts during the July Coup are unknown, except that he remained in Valencia; following the loyalist triumph Puigdollers went into hiding, in unclear circumstances managed to leave the Republican zone and in early September 1936 he was already in the Nationalist headquarters in Burgos. He was integrated within the wartime Carlist national executive, Junta Suprema Militar, and within Sección de Asuntos Generales he assumed jefatura of the newly created Delegación General de Enseñanza. Nothing is known of Puigdollers’ activity at this post. Instead, in early 1937 he was recorded among Carlist heavyweights discussing potential merger with Falange Española; in February in the Portuguese Insua he was undecided, but during later talks with Falangist leaders he seemed favorably disposed towards some sort of alliance.
  Puigdollers was among the Carlists who complied with terms of the unification, imposed by Franco on both the Falangists and the Carlists. In late April 1937 he was nominated to Comisión de Cultura y Enseñanza, one of 6 departments in the Francoist quasi-government, Junta Técnica de Estado; within the commission he headed the sub-section of primary education. Within the body, largely busywith purges among the teaching staff, Puigdollers was one of the hardliners. However, Puigdollers demonstrated some unease about Carlist marginalization within the new Francoist structures. In October 1937 he did not appear – though he was supposed to attend – at an official academic rally in Burgos, intended to demonstrate unity of the Falangist and Carlist youth. Moreover, he was also suspected of instigating the Carlist participants and hence being co-responsible for cries “¡muera Franco, traidor!”, heard at the assembly. In response, the FET secretary Joaquín Miranda fined Puigdollers, suspended his party membership and deposed him from all functions, including the state ones; Puigdollers was also barred from re-assuming any official post until October 1939.
caption: Carlist rally, early 1930s
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