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The film “Federica Montseny, The Woman Who Speaks”, directed by Laura Mañá, recovers the memory of one of the most important figures of the libertarian movement in the Spanish State during the Second Republic and the Civil War. At a time of progressive loss of rights and the rise of fascism, it is essential to remember figures such as Federica Montseny, who played a fundamental role in the struggle for social emancipation.

Federica Montseny (1905–1994), the daughter of fellow anarchists Juan Montseny and Teresa Mañé, was an activist, politician, writer and speaker who left her mark on the workers’ movement, the struggle for women’s rights and the resistance against fascism. She was the first woman to hold a ministerial position in the Spanish State, and was also one of the first in Western Europe. During the brief period in which she held the portfolio of Health and Social Assistance, Montseny promoted pioneering and progressive measures for the time: she drafted the first preliminary bill on abortion in the State and created the so-called “liberatorios”, spaces where women engaged in prostitution could voluntarily go to receive education and medical treatment.

The film recounts her arrival in the government of the socialist Largo Caballero in November 1936, her work at the head of the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance, as well as her exile and trial in France after the end of the Civil War, when she was sought by the Francoist authorities to be sentenced. Laura Mañá’s work not only traces the most significant period of her life, but also presents her as an example of the importance of maintaining a firm commitment to the struggle against fascism and to the defence of the rights of the popular classes.

The film can be watched free of charge on https://www.3cat.cat/3cat/frederica-montseny-la-dona-que-parla/video/6086856/.

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