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Juan Seguí Almuzara

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Juan Seguí Almuzara
Born1885[1]
Figueres, Spain
Died1936
Feria, Spain
NationalitySpanish
Occupation(s)military, entrepreneur
Known forconspirator

Juan Seguí Almuzara (1885–1936) was a Spanish military officer who ascended to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In the 1910s he served mostly in Morocco, while in the 1920s he was a military attaché in Paris and Brussels. However, he is known mostly for his engagement in the July 1936 coup. In Melilla he emerged as one of few key leaders of the conspiracy and played a vital role in rebel takeover of power in the area.

Youth

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Figueres, around 1903
Figueres, around 1903

Segui's paternal family was related to the province of Alicante. His father, Juan Segui Verdú (born 1841), originated from the hamlet of Tollos[2] and like many in the family, he opted for a military career. In the mid-1880s he served in the rank of a captain of infantry and was posted to Catalonia; his new unit was the 18. Infantry Battalion based in Lérida,[3] though Segui Verdú was assigned to its company garrisoning the St. Fernando base in Figueres.[4] At the time he was married to María Almuzara Alonso (born 1850), the native of Huesca;[5] in the mid-1890s he was promoted to comandante[6] and in the early 20th century he would retire at this rank.

Juan spent his childhood in Figueres and Lérida.[7] Though growing up in the Catalan environment, he spoke Spanish as his native tongue; it is not clear what schools he frequented. When adolescent, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his father; in 1899 he entered a preparatory military school (unclear where) and in 1900 he successfully took entry exams to Academia de Infantería in Toledo. Following the regular curriculum, he graduated as segundo teniente in 1903; among 145 graduates, he was within the best 15.[8] His first military assignment was to the 1. Mountain Battalion, stationed in the Navarrese town of Estella.[9]

Military career

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École supérieure de guerre
École supérieure de guerre

No later than in 1905 and already as primer teniente Segui was transferred to Ceuta in the Protectorate of Morocco, where he assumed duties in the local staff.[10] In 1906 he entered École supérieure de guerre in Paris, in 1909 promoted to captain.[11] He co-translated large parts of Clausewitz' Vom Kriege, published in Madrid in 1908.[12] Upon completion of the curriculum in 1911 he was already a comandante (major).[13] He was again posted to Morocco, this time to comandancia general de Melilla.[14] In 1914 and in Figueres he married a local girl, Nicole Valentine Denis Moreau (they would not have children).[15] Segui kept serving in Melilla, in the mid-1910s in local general staff and at the turn of the decades in Policía Indígena, local Moroccan public order force.[16]

In 1921 latest Segui was back in France, following additional courses in École supérieure.[17] This commenced his long spell on foreign assignements, first as agregado militar in Paris,[18] and in the mid-1920s – already as teniente coronel[19] – in Brussels;[20] he was also acredited for the Netherlands and Switzerland.[21] At this role he mixed with the world of diplomacy, though was mainly busy with military tasks, e.g. appearing as observer at various maneouvres or trials.[22] In 1930 he was recalled to Spain and assigned to 1. Region in Madrid.[23] In 1931 he took advantage of the military reform, pursued by Manuel Azaña, and opted for retirement.[24]

Conspirator

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Sección de Límites, Melilla
Sección de Límites, Melilla

In 1932, as a 47-year-old retiree with generous pension, Segui returned to Melilla.[25] He launched his own retail trade business, though its exact nature is not clear.[26] Because of his position in the local world of commerce, familiarity with numerous highly positioned military in the area, but principally due to his previous spell in Paris, he emerged as a personality in the local societé.[27] In 1935 he was also nominated interventor regional;[28] a peculiar local role, initially reserved for the military, in the early 1930s it was a civilian position, related to performing auxiliary administrative tasks, especially with regard to local indigenous structures.[29]

In the spring of 1936 Segui served as a link between local military and civilian conspirators.[30] Between March and June he travelled to Pamplona, discussing details with general Mola; he emerged among key plotters in Melilla[31] or even “the brain” beind the plot.[32] On July 17 he and other conspirators were surrounded by Guardia Civil in the Sección de Límites building, when distributing weapons. A hastily assembled Foreign Legion detachment arrived at the scene and overpowered the civiles; this effectively commenced the coup.[33] Few hours later Segui stormed, pistol in hand, into the room where military conspirators tried to convince general Romerales to resign power; having pointed the gun at the general, Segui forced him to give up.[34]

Rebel

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countryside near Feria
countryside near Feria

Following takeover of Melilla, Segui entered the informal local junta, headed by colonel Solans.[35] According to non-verified sources, on August 2 he was nominated head of the Melilla general staff.[36] It is not clear whether he played any role in repressive actions, carried out by the rebels in the area. At unspecified time in early or mid-August he transferred to the peninsula; allegedly he was tasked by Queipo de Llano with buildup of Policía Montada, a vigilante-type militia, supposed to consolidate rebel rule in the freshly seized parts of Extremadura.[37]

On August 18, 1936, Segui with few other officers was travelling in a car, on its route from Seville to Badajóz. In the town of Santa Marta de Los Barros, thought to be under the rebel control, they were suddenly approached by loyalist militia. The vehicle turned back and tried to flee, but it was soon damaged by enemy fire. The rebels abandoned the car and pursued by the loyalists, sought shelter in the countryside; they hid in a farmhouse near Feria, offering money to the owner. However, the latter denounced them to approaching militamen. Segui and his companions either died in combat or surrendered, but were executed shortly afterwards.[38]

Epilogue

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The widow was eligible for extraordinary pension, as Segui died when in service; it was granted already in 1938.[39] The question of heritage, claimed by the widow and the sister, Pilar Seguí Almuzara, was settled by the court in 1940. At unspecified time during early Francoism a major street in Melilla, leading to Plaza de España, was named "calle teniente coronel Segui". Until the late 1960s in anniversary articles published in mid-July some local newspapers used to mention Segui among those who first rose to arms, at times as " verdadero cerebro del Alzamiento en Melilla".[40] In 1957 the widow was admitted at a private audience by Franco.[41] Segui made it to history books, from Historia de la cruzada española (1940) by Arraras[42] to The Spanish Civil War (1961) by Thomas.[43]

Until today Segui is briefly mentioned in scores of historiographic works focusing either on the coup in Morocco or on early days of the civil war, at times falsely as "jefe de la Falange en Melilla",[44] though usually among "principales dirigentes de la conspiración en Melilla" or similar.[45] The street in Melilla bore his name until the early 21. century; following efforts on part of local activists, in 2013[46] the local ayuntamiento renamed it to "Avenida de democracia";[47] some cheered that "el nombre del asesino Tte. Coronel Seguí desapareciera del callejero".[48] Segui was among protagonists of the novel Melilla 1936 (2022) by Luis María Cazorla Prieto.[49] He was dedicated a brief monographic article in 2023.[50]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ many sources claim he was born in 1888, see e.g. the Seguí Almuzara, Juan, 1888-1936 entry at archival service of Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. However, according to municipal census of Madrid he was born in 1885
  2. ^ see the municipal census of Madrid of 1910, reproduced at the FamilySearch website; for his later service see e.g. Anuario Militar de España 1892, p. 355
  3. ^ El Correo Militar 05.08.1887, p. 3
  4. ^ Josep Clara Resplandis, Joan Seguí Almuzara (1885-1936), el figuerenc protagonista de la subversió militar a Melilla, [in:] Annals de l’Institut d’Estudis Empordanesos 54 (2023), p. 244
  5. ^ municipal census of Madrid of 1910, reproduced at FamilySearch website
  6. ^ Anuario Militar de España 1895, p. 384
  7. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 244
  8. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 244
  9. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 245
  10. ^ Anuario Militar de España 1905, p. 231; a scholar claims he was promoted in 1906, see Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 245, and this is how his seniority was stated later, Anuario Militar de España 1910, p. 372
  11. ^ Anuario Militar de España 1913, p. 315; a scholar claims 1911, see Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 245
  12. ^ he probably translated from French, not from the German original, see De la guerra, [in:] Peter Harringtom auction page
  13. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 245
  14. ^ according to some sources as comandante, Anuario Militar de España 1913, p. 135
  15. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 248
  16. ^ Anuario Militar de España 1920, p. 207
  17. ^ Anuario Militar de España 1921, p. 371
  18. ^ La guerra y su preparación XIII/II (1922), p. 399
  19. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 245
  20. ^ Guia Oficial de España 1925, p. 135
  21. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 245
  22. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, pp. 245-6
  23. ^ Anuario Militar de España 1930, p. 245
  24. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 246
  25. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 246
  26. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 246
  27. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 246
  28. ^ Boletín Oficial de la Zona de Protectorado Español en Marruecos 10.04.1935, p. 599
  29. ^ compare José Luis Villanova, La academia de interventores del Protectorado de España en Marruecos, [in:] Aldaba: revista del Centro Asociado a la UNED de Melilla 30 (2001), pp. 385-404
  30. ^ some sources claim he was the leader of Melilla branch of Falange, but author of a recent work, in detail discussing the Melilla conspiracy, refers to him merely as "teniente coronel de Estado Mayor retirado", Miguel Platón, Así comenzó la guerra civil, Madrid 2024, pp. 249-259
  31. ^ Ángel Viñas, Miguel Ull Laita, Cecilio Yusta Viñas, El primer asesinato de Franco. La muerte del general Balmes y el inicio de la sublevación, Barcelona 2017, p. 382
  32. ^ “el cerebral teniente coronel Seguí”, Juan José Carbonero Redondo, Melilla 1936, el juez que tenía una cita con su destino, [in:] Deliberación 16 (2023), p. 41
  33. ^ Platón 2024, pp. 249-259
  34. ^ Platón 2024, pp. 274-283
  35. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 247
  36. ^ Francisco Espinosa Maestre, La justicia militar al servicio del terror. El consejo de guerra contra el general Manuel Romerales Quintero (I), [in:] Conversación sobre la história 04.09.2020
  37. ^ Espinosa Maestre 2020
  38. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 248
  39. ^ Clara Resplandis 2023, p. 249
  40. ^ see e.g. El Diario de Avila 24.07.1969
  41. ^ see e.g. El Diario Palentino 25.04.1957
  42. ^ Joaquín Arrarás Iribarren, Historia de la cruzada española, Madrid 1940, p. 556
  43. ^ Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, London/New York 2001, p. 204
  44. ^ Manuel P. Villatoro, Israel Viana, Historia de la Guerra Civil sin mitos ni tópicos, Madrid 2022; in public space he might be also falsely named "the commander of the military garrison in the Moroccan city of Melilla", compare Spanish Civil War Campaign Phase 1: The Melilla Uprising, [in:] Brothers in Arms service 11.06.2023
  45. ^ Francisco Manuel López López, José Manuel Alarcón Martínez, La paz no nace cuando la guerra termina. Guerra Civil y represión en Roquetas de Mar, Almería, 1936-1945, Almeria 2021, p. 111
  46. ^ La reforma del callejero de Melilla, [in:] El aminar de Melilla service, 20.05.2013
  47. ^ Democracia (avda), [in:] Arquitectura de Melilla service
  48. ^ La reforma del callejero de Melilla, [in:] El aminar de Melilla service, 20.05.2013
  49. ^ see the book at Amazon service
  50. ^ in a local Figueres review and as a person born and raised in Figueres, see Clara Resplandis 2023

Further reading

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  • Josep Clara Resplandis, Joan Seguí Almuzara (1885-1936), el figuerenc protagonista de la subversió militar a Melilla, [in:] Annals de l’Institut d’Estudis Empordanesos 54 (2023), pp. 243–250
  • Miguel Platón, Así comenzó la guerra civil, Madrid 2024
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