Ernestina González biography recovers history of Spanish activist

A new biography titled ‘Ernestina González, un pulso antifranquista’ has been published to recover the historical legacy of Ernestina González, the only Spanish woman prosecuted by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the United States.

Written by Ana María Díaz Marcos, a professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Connecticut, the book details the life of González, a teacher, librarian, and journalist. Following the death of her husband, Leo Fleichman—the first American volunteer to die in the Spanish Civil War—González engaged in intense anti-Francoist propaganda from exile in New York. This activism led to decades of FBI surveillance and legal proceedings during the 1940s and 1950s.

The biography, published by the Seville-based editorial Espuela de Plata, marks the 50th anniversary of González's death. It highlights her connections to prominent Spanish figures such as Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dalí, and Luis Buñuel, and traces her journey through Spain, France, the United States, and Mexico.