Clara Pueyo Jornet

Clara Pueyo Jornet (23 February 1914, Vilanova i la Geltrú - disappeared 26 June 1943) was a Spanish communist, member of the executive committee of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC), and secretary of the International Red Aid. She was persecuted by Francoism, arrested, tortured, and imprisoned in the in Barcelona, from where she staged a remarkable escape known as The Great Flight (Spanish: El Gran Vuelo), organized by the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), after which she disappeared.

Biography Early life and youth Clara was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú. She had two brothers, Salvador and Armand. Her father worked at Pirelli. In 1924, when Clara was 10 years old, the family moved to Manresa where a branch of the factory had opened.

In 1936, at the start of the Spanish Civil War, she was in Valencia, combining medical studies with work as a typist at the Pirelli House. She was also an active member of the Unified Socialist Youth (JSU) in the Ruzafa neighborhood, as well as secretary of the International Red Aid and International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union. She was associated with illustrator and poster artist .

Imprisonment and escape On 22 August 1941, during a raid, a large amount of documentation was seized. The three were taken to the Via Laietana police station. For a month they were interrogated and tortured, then placed under judicial custody, and imprisoned in .

On 19 June 1943, the Party organized the escape of leaders Albert Assa, Antòni Pardinilla, Manuel Donaire, and Ángel Olaya from the , who left through the main door with a falsified freedom order signed by judge Josualdo de la Iglesia. A few days later, Pueyo also escaped from Les Corts using the same method, and no one heard from her again. Her disappearance generated many doubts and a shadow of mystery, including espionage, betrayal, and the never-clarified suspicion of a possible murder.

Armand Pueyo Jornet - Clara's older brother - was killed in May 1941 in the Mauthausen concentration camp.