PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Justa Freire

Justa Freire
In Madrid, c. 1933
Born
Justa Freire Méndez

(1896-08-04)4 August 1896
Moraleja del Vino, Spain
Died15 July 1965(1965-07-15) (aged 68)
Madrid, Spain
Education
OccupationEducator

Justa Freire Méndez (4 August 1896 – 15 July 1965) was a Spanish educator.

Biography

Justa Freire was born in Moraleja del Vino on 4 April 1896.[1][2] After studying teaching at the Normal School of Zamora [es], she passed the competitive examination for a position as a national school teacher in 1918. The same year, she joined the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), specifically its Federation of Education Workers. She briefly taught school in Casillas, Ávila.

In 1921, she moved to Madrid, where she obtained a position at the Colegio Cervantes [es], a center affiliated with the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, which educated the children of workers from the Cuatro Caminos neighborhood.[2] There, Freire was responsible for social activities (maintaining the school, the dining hall, welcoming new students, family gatherings, and reunions with alumni), as well as the center's educational programs (nursery school, teacher training, and attending to visitors). Also, the Board for the Extension of Studies and Scientific Research [es] financed trips to Belgium and France to improve her pedagogical training.[3]

After graduating from the School of Higher Teacher Training [es] in 1932, Freire dedicated herself to teaching pedagogy courses in Pamplona and San Martín de Valdeiglesias. In November 1933, she was appointed director of the Alfredo Calderón School Group (later renamed CEIP Padre Poveda) in Madrid's Ciudad Jardín, becoming one of the first Spanish women to lead an all-male team of teachers. She kept a diary of all pedagogical work she carried out at this educational center. Furthermore, she shared her innovative experiences with the educational community through her publications in the journal Escuelas de España (Schools of Spain). During this period, she collaborated with the Pedagogical Missions [es].[4]

Due to the Civil War and the proximity of the rebel army to Madrid, classes could no longer be held normally at the Alfredo Calderón School. Therefore, in December 1936, an order was given to close it and evacuate its students to the Valencian Community.[5] There, the Spanish government commissioned Freire to participate in the creation and development of the Family Education Communities, along with other prominent educators such as Ángel Llorca [es]. Due to her excellent work, the government promoted her several times: Inspector-Visitor of Colonies, Regional Delegate of the National Council for Evacuated Children [es], and finally National Delegate.[2]

At the end of the Civil War, in May 1939, the dictatorship arrested Freire, and that September a drumhead court-martial sentenced her to six years in prison as part of a series of reprisals against teachers [es]. She was ultimately imprisoned for two years. During her time in the Ventas Women's Prison [es], she took charge of the adult education program, assisted by other teachers such as Rafaela González Quesada. The younger prisoners – minors, including some of Las Trece Rosas – were cared for by María Sánchez Arbós [es].[6]

After being released from Ventas in 1941, she gave private lessons until 1944, when she began working as a secretary and teacher at the British School. In 1952, she requested permission to rejoin the national teaching corps. The following year, she managed to regain her teaching position, but lost all previous privileges, along with her seniority, and was expressly prohibited from teaching in Madrid. Therefore, in 1954, she was appointed teacher at the Padre Algué School in the Barcelona municipality of Manresa.[7] In 1958, she was transferred to the National Teaching Service's Didactic Guidance Center in Madrid and returned to teaching at the British School. In those final years, she contributed articles to the magazine El Magisterio Español. She died in Madrid on 15 July 1965.[1][2]

Tributes

Maestra Justa Freire Street in 2018

Freire had a street named after her in Madrid's Las Águilas neighborhood in 2018.[1][8] In May 2021, the Madrid Superior Court of Justice ruled to restore its previous name, Millán-Astray, after the head of propaganda for the fascist side in the Civil War.[7][9]

She was one of the Republican teachers specifically honored at the "Diaries of Freedom: Teachers and Educators of the Republic" conference organized by UGT at the Galileo Cultural Center [es] in Madrid from 14 to 16 November 2017.[10][11]

Restoration work on Freire's mural in November 2025

In March 2022, a group of residents organized as the Platform for the Name of Maestra Justa Freire Street, created a mural in her honor, which was initially prevented from being completed by the Madrid Municipal Police.[12] Over the following three years it was vandalized at least four times with fascist messages.[3]

In April 2022, a commemorative plaque was installed at CEIP Padre Poveda.[13]

In March 2023, Fanjul Station on the Cercanías Madrid C-5 line was renamed Maestra Justa Freire-Polideportivo Aluche [es].[14]

In 2023, a postage stamp was dedicated to her for the #8MTodoElAño collection, with a print run of 125,000.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c Knight, Fatima (14 July 2018). "Justa Freire, la maestra republicana que ha dejado a Millán Astray sin calle en Madrid" [Justa Freire, the Republican Teacher Who Has Left Millán Astray Without a Street in Madrid]. elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d Dorado, Marina (30 June 2021). "Justa Freire, la maestra republicana que se ha quedado sin calle en Madrid" [Justa Freire, the Republican Teacher Who Has Lost Her Street Name in Madrid]. Mujeres a Seguir (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  3. ^ a b Bastante Hernáiz, Paula (24 November 2025). "El mural de Justa Freire, pionera en la educación en España, destruido al menos cuatro veces por símbolos franquistas: 'El barrio lo vuelve a levantar'" [The Mural of Justa Freire, a Pioneer in Education in Spain, Destroyed at Least Four Times by Francoist Symbols: "The Neighborhood Rebuilds it"]. Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  4. ^ "Justa Freire Méndez". Ficha en Misiones Pedagógicas (in Spanish). Spanish National Research Council. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  5. ^ Escrivá Moscardó, Cristina (27 November 2016). "Justa Freire Mendez". Rutas Culturales (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  6. ^ "El 'almacén' de reclusas" [The "Warehouse" of Female Prisoners]. Cárcel de Ventas, Madrid, 1931-1969 (in Spanish). City Council of Madrid. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  7. ^ a b "L'estada de la mestra Justa Freire a Manresa" [Teacher Justa Freire's Stay in Manresa]. Memoria.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  8. ^ "Madrid elimina 52 denominaciones franquistas de su callejero con el apoyo de Ahora Madrid, PSOE y Ciudadanos" [Madrid Removes 52 Francoist Names From its Street Names With the Support of Ahora Madrid, PSOE, and Ciudadanos]. elDiario.es (in Spanish). Madrid. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  9. ^ de Quiroga, Cris (24 August 2021). "Almeida restituye la placa de la calle Millán-Astray por orden judicial" [Almeida Restores the Street Sign for Millán-Astray by Court Order]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  10. ^ "Exposición y Jornadas: Diarios de Libertad: Maestras y Pedagogas de la Segunda República" [Exhibition and Conference: Diaries of Freedom: Teachers and Educators of the Second Republic]. La Escuela de la República (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  11. ^ Caballero, Beatriz (12 November 2017). "'Mientras me quede voz hablaré de mis muertos'" ["As long as I have a voice, I will speak of my dead"] (in Spanish). Madrid: Cadena SER. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  12. ^ "Justa Freire consigue su mural en Madrid una semana después de que la Policía municipal impidiese pintarlo" [Justa Freire Gets Her Mural in Madrid a Week After the Municipal Police Prevented it From Being Painted]. elDiario.es (in Spanish). 19 March 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  13. ^ "Una placa recuerda la figura de Justa Freire en el CEIP Padre Poveda de Chamartín" [A Plaque Commemorates Justa Freire at the CEIP Padre Poveda School in Chamartín] (in Spanish). City Council of Madrid. 28 April 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  14. ^ "La estación Fanjul de Cercanías Madrid cambia de nombre" [Cercanías Madrid's Fanjul Station Changes Names] (in Spanish). Telemadrid. Europa Press. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  15. ^ "Así es el sello de Correos que reconoce el papel de la pedagoga zamorana Justa Freire" [This is the Postage Stamp That Recognizes the Role of Justa Freire, the Educator From Zamora]. La Opinión - El Correo de Zamora (in Spanish). 20 October 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2026.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Justa Freire.

Content Disclaimer

Informasi ini disarikan dari Wikipedia dan disajikan kembali untuk tujuan edukasi. Konten tersedia di bawah lisensi CC BY-SA 3.0. Kami tidak bertanggung jawab atas ketidakakuratan data yang bersumber dari kontribusi publik tersebut.

  1. The information displayed on this website is sourced in part or in whole from Wikipedia and has been adapted for the purpose of restating it. We strive to provide accurate and relevant information, however:
  2. There is no guarantee of absolute accuracy. Wikipedia is an open, collaborative project that can be edited by anyone, so information is subject to change.
  3. It is not intended to constitute professional advice. The content displayed is for informational and educational purposes only. For important decisions (e.g., medical, legal, or financial), please consult a professional.
  4. Content copyright. Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). This means that content may be reused with appropriate attribution and shared under a similar license.
  5. Responsible use. Any risk arising from the use of information from this website is entirely the responsibility of the user.