IGLESIAS, PABLO

born Oct. 18, 1850, El Ferrol, Spain died Dec. 9, 1925, Madrid political leader who played a significant role in the development of Spanish democratic socialism and trade unionism. Iglesias was brought up in a foundling home and eventually became a printer. He helped found the Spanish Socialist Party in May 1879 and soon became its secretary. In 1882 he organized the first strike in Spain after the 1875 restoration of the monarchy, and in 1885 he became president of the Socialist Party's central committee. The following year El Socialistica, the Socialist newspaper, was founded, with Iglesias as its editor. He also came to head the Socialist-affiliated Unin General de Trabajadores (General Union of Workers), organized in 1888. An effective organizer, Iglesias guided the slowly expanding Spanish Socialist Party on a disciplined, austere, and evolutionary course. Though for many years he scorned alliance with non-working-class parties, he believed in parliamentary and municipal political action. He was one of the first Socialists elected to the Madrid Municipal Council (1905) and to the Cortes, the Spanish parliament (1910). In 1921 he was able to prevent the Socialist Party from joining the Communist International.