{{Short description|Catalan activist (1909–1970)}} {{Use British English|date=October 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Maria Rius | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | image_upright = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | pronunciation = | birth_name = Maria de Riu Berengué | birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|11|30|df=y}} | birth_place = Arbeca, Lleida, Spain | baptised = <!-- will not display if birth_date is entered --> | death_date = {{circa}} {{Death date and age|1970|||1909||}} | death_place = France | death_cause = <!-- should only be included when the cause of death has significance for the subject's notability --> | nationality = <!-- do not use per WP:INFONAT --> | other_names = | siglum = | citizenship = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Seamstress, activist | years_active = | era = | employer = | organisation = National Confederation of Labour | agent = <!-- discouraged in most cases, specifically when promotional, and requiring a reliable source --> | known_for = | notable_works = <!-- produces label "Notable work"; may be overridden by |credits=, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |works=, which produces label "Works"; or by |label_name=, which produces label "Label(s)" --> | style = | television = | height = <!-- "X cm", "X m" or "X ft Y in" plus optional reference (conversions are automatic) --> | title = <!-- formal/awarded/job title. The parameter |office=may be used as an alternative when the label is better rendered as "Office" (e.g. public office or appointments) --> | term = | predecessor = | successor = | other_party = ''Los Solidarios'' | movement = Anarchism, prisoners' rights | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charges = <!-- criminality parameters should be supported with citations from reliable sources --> | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = <!-- use article title or common name --> | partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) --> | children = | parents = <!-- overrides mother and father parameters --> | mother = <!-- may be used (optionally with father parameter) in place of parents parameter (displays "Parent(s)" as label) --> | father = <!-- may be used (optionally with mother parameter) in place of parents parameter (displays "Parent(s)" as label) --> | relatives = | family = | callsign = <!-- amateur radio, use if relevant --> | awards = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> | module = {{Infobox military person | embed = yes | allegiance = Spanish Republic | branch = {{unbulleted list|Confederal militias {{small|(1936–1937)}}|Spanish Republican Army {{small|(1937–1939)}} }} | branch_label = Service | service_years = | service_years_label = | rank = | rank_label = | service_number = | unit = {{unbulleted list|Hilario-Zamora Column {{small|(1936–1937)}}|116th Mixed Brigade| {{small|(1937–1939)}} }} | commands = | known_for = | battles = {{tree list}} *Spanish Civil War **Battle of Barcelona **Aragon front {{tree list/end}} | battles_label = }} | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | module6 = | signature = | signature_type = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }} '''Maria Rius''' (1909–{{circa|1970}}) was a Catalan prisoner support activist and anarchist militant. She organised numerous prison escapes during the time of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, she stormed a women's prison in Barcelona and agitated for amnesty for political prisoners. She fought on the Aragon front during the Spanish Civil War, before fleeing into exile in France.
==Biography== Maria Rius was born in the Catalan village of Arbeca in 1909.{{Sfnm|1a1=Íñiguez|1y=2001|1p=515|2a1=Marin Silvestre|2y=2010}} She was raised by working-class parents, who could not afford to pay for her education.{{Sfn|Marin Silvestre|2010}} She herself entered the workforce at the age of nine, beginning with an apprenticeship as a shirtwaist maker. She and her family later moved to Barcelona, where she joined the growing anarchist movement. At the age of 18, she joined the National Confederation of Labour (CNT), becoming the first member of its dressmakers' union. She was also active in prisoner support, provided refuge for anarchist fugitives and organised prison escapes.{{Sfnm|1a1=Íñiguez|1y=2001|1p=515|2a1=Marin Silvestre|2y=2010}}
Rius also joined the anarchist militant group ''Los Solidarios''.{{Sfnm|1a1=Christie|1y=2008|1p=20n12|2a1=Íñiguez|2y=2001|2p=516}} In 1924, police found explosives and firearms in her home;{{Sfn|Marin Silvestre|2010}} she was arrested and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.{{Sfnm|1a1=Íñiguez|1y=2001|1p=515|2a1=Marin Silvestre|2y=2010}} Rius continued organising escapes from prison, until she was identified by the authorities.{{Sfn|Marin Silvestre|2010}} She herself then escaped and fled to France.{{Sfnm|1a1=Íñiguez|1y=2001|1pp=515-516|2a1=Marin Silvestre|2y=2010}} Following the fall of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, she returned to prisoner support activism in Barcelona, agitating for amnesty for imprisoned women. Following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, on 14 April 1931, she led the storming of the {{ill|Queen Amalia Prison|ca|Presó de Reina Amàlia|es|Prisión de Reina Amalia}}.{{Sfnm|1a1=Íñiguez|1y=2001|1pp=515-516|2a1=Marin Silvestre|2y=2010}} She freed many imprisoned women and burned the prison's records, before leading the liberated women to the Republican demonstration on the Plaça Sant Jaume.{{Sfn|Marin Silvestre|2010}} She then participated in a commission which appealed to Catalan President Francesc Macià for all politics prisoners in Figueres and Barcelona to be released.{{Sfn|Íñiguez|2001|pp=515-516}}
With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Rius became a militiawoman and participated in the streetfighting against the July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona.{{Sfn|Marin Silvestre|2010}} She then went to the Aragon front, where she joined up with the Hilario-Zamora Column in Sástago. In March 1937, she took part in the capture of Quinto.{{Sfnm|1a1=Íñiguez|1y=2001|1p=516|2a1=Marin Silvestre|2y=2010}} She later joined the 116th Mixed Brigade of the Spanish Republican Army.{{Sfn|Ruíz Casero|2019|p=161}} With the victory of the Nationalists' Catalonia Offensive in 1939, Rius fled to France.{{Sfnm|1a1=Íñiguez|1y=2001|1p=516|2a1=Marin Silvestre|2y=2010}} She retired from activism and, for the rest of her life, she focused on her family.{{Sfn|Íñiguez|2001|p=516}} She died in French exile, {{Circa|1970}}.{{Sfn|Marin Silvestre|2010}}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==Bibliography== {{refbegin|2}} *{{cite book|last=Christie|first=Stuart|author-link=Stuart Christie|year=2008|title=We, the Anarchists: A Study of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI)|publisher=AK Press|isbn=9781904859758|lccn=2007939202|oclc=260209091}} *{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Íñiguez|first=Miguel|year=2001|title=Rius, María|encyclopedia=Esbozo de una enciclopedia histórica del anarquismo español|location=Madrid|publisher=Fundación de Estudios Libertarios Anselmo Lorenzo|isbn=9788486864453|oclc=807322760|pages=515–516|language=es}} *{{cite encyclopedia|last=Marin Silvestre|first=Dolors|date=2010-10-05|url=https://dbd.vives.org/fitxa_biografies.php?id=4066|title=Maria Rius|encyclopedia={{ill|Diccionari Biogràfic de Dones|ca}}|language=ca}} *{{cite book|last=Ruíz Casero|first=Luis Antonio|year=2019|chapter=La participación de la mujer en primera línea en el Ejército Popular de la República (1936-1939)|editor-last1=Torija|editor-first1=Alicia|editor-last2=Morín|editor-first2=Jorge|title=Mujeres en la Guerra Civil y la Posguerra: Memoria y Educación|publisher=Audema|isbn=978-84-16450-49-7|language=es|pp=139–178}} {{refend}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin|2}} *{{cite encyclopedia|last=Dupuy|first=Rolf|date=2025-01-07|orig-date=2024-01-22|url=https://militants-anarchistes.info/spip.php?article17636|title=RIU BERENGUE, Maria de « Maria RIUS »|encyclopedia=Dictionnaire des militants anarchistes|language=fr}} *{{cite magazine|last=García Francés|first=Kike|date=June 2017|title=Justicieras, Solidarias y Nosotras: Las mujeres en los grupos de acción anarquistas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203233624/https://rojoynegro.info/articulo/justicieras-solidarias-y-nosotras-las-mujeres-en-los-grupos-de-accion-anarquistas/|archive-date=2021-12-03|url=https://rojoynegro.info/articulo/justicieras-solidarias-y-nosotras-las-mujeres-en-los-grupos-de-accion-anarquistas/|language=es|magazine=Rojo y Negro|issue=313|issn=1138-1019}} *{{cite book|last=Iturbe|first=Lola|author-link=Lola Iturbe|year=1974|title=La mujer en la lucha social. La guerra civil de España|location=México|publisher=Editores Mexicanos Unidos|language=es}} *{{cite conference|last1=Gallart Fernández|first1=Felip|last2=Lladonosa Giró|first2=Vicent|last3=García Castilla|first3=Diego|year=2020|title=Maria de Riu Berengué, lluitadora i miliciana anarcosindicalista, dins Mosaic|conference=Trobada d'Estudiosos de les Garrigues|url=https://bibliotecamariarius.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2019-RevistaMosaic-MariadeRiu.pdf|volume=XII|location=Els Torms|publisher=Centre d'Estudis de les Garrigues|pp=247–259|language=ca|isbn=978-8409-23716-6}} {{refend}}
{{Authority control}} {{Portal bar|Anarchism|Biography|Catalonia|Spain}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rius, Maria}} Category:1909 births Category:Anarchists from Catalonia Category:Catalan prisoners and detainees Category:Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Category:Escapees from Spanish detention Category:Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France Category:People from Garrigues (comarca) Category:Prisoners' rights activists Category:Spanish emigrants to France Category:Spanish escapees Category:Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Category:Spanish tailors Category:Spanish women of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Category:Year of death unknown