Juana Doña Jiménez

Juana Doña Jiménez (17 December 1918 – 18 October 2003) was a Spanish communist, feminist, trade unionist, and writer. She was active in the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and became a symbol of anti-Francoist resistance and the women's movement.

Biography Doña joined the Union of Communist Youth of Spain in January 1933, at the age of 15. In September of that year, she was arrested for the first time while acting as a picket during the general strike in Madrid. She later became the women's secretary for the Southern Sector and subsequently the national women's secretary of the Communist Youth Central Committee, later joining the Agrupación de Mujeres Antifascistas (Antifascist Women's Group).

In 1936, she began living with Eugenio Mesón, a prominent leader of the Unified Socialist Youth, who remained her partner until his execution in 1941.

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Doña worked in support roles behind the front lines. Her comrades from the same trial were executed on 28 August at the Carabanchel Cemetery.

Doña served 14 years in prison, passing through Ventas, Málaga Women's Prison, Segovia Women's Prison, Guadalajara Prison, and Alcalá de Henares Prison. She took part in hunger strikes in Málaga and Segovia, and later denounced the expulsion of two communist inmates accused of being lesbians.

Recognition In 1998 she received the Comadre de Oro Award from the Tertulia Feminista Les Comadres for her feminist career. On 29 May 2018, the Madrid City Council honored her by renaming Calle Batalla de Belchite as Calle Juana Doña in the Arganzuela district. A municipal Espacio de Igualdad (Equality Center) in Arganzuela is also named in her honor.

Selected works Mujer (1977) Desde la noche y la niebla (mujeres en las cárceles franquistas), foreword by Alfonso Sastre. Madrid: Ediciones de la Torre (1978) Gente de abajo (No me arrepiento de nada), foreword by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. Madrid: A-Z Ediciones (1992) Querido Eugenio (A Love Letter Across Time), foreword by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. Barcelona: Lumen (2003)