Galán, Fermín, 1899-1930

"Fermín Galán Rodríguez (4 October 1899 14 December 1930) was a Spanish soldier known for leading the failed Jaca uprising a few months before the foundation of the Second Spanish Republic. He was of peasant origins, although his father was in the Navy. His father died when he was 10, and soon after he was enrolled in a boarding school for military orphans. This prepared him for military academy, and in 1918 he graduated as a lieutenant. He served in Morocco, where he learned Arabic, gained a reputation as an African expert and was promoted to Captain. While recovering from a serious wound in 1925 Galán conceived the idea of overthrowing the monarchist dictatorship of General Primo de Rivera and establishing a republic. The next year he helped to plan a coup. The plot was detected and he was imprisoned for 312 years until January 1930. He was then assigned to the remote posting of Jaca in northern Aragon, where he developed plans for another coup attempt, this time coordinated with civilian strikes and demonstrations. The revolt was launched prematurely on 12 December 1930, was poorly organized and was quickly suppressed. Galán was executed after a hasty court martial on 14 December 1930. However, the revolt sparked upheavals that led to declaration of the Second Spanish Republic a few months later."