Nimio de Anquín

Nimio de Anquín (12 August 1896 – 16 May 1979) was an Argentine Thomist writer, political theorist, and fascist leader. Seeking to combine European models of fascism with his own attachment to the Catholic Church, he led several movements and for a time had a strong following. Subsequently, however, he lost political influence, and his later life was mainly focused on his academic career.

Early years A native of Córdoba, de Anquín studied law at the National University of Córdoba. With his studies in Argentina completed, he traveled to Germany to study philosophy under Ernst Cassirer.

In Europe, de Anquín developed his interest in politics and became a follower of the ideas of Charles Maurras after coming into contact with his work.

Fascist leader He was a founder of the Instituto San Tomás de Aquino in Córdoba in 1929, a group that would become linked to the Argentine Fascist Party. In 1934, he joined the Fascismo Argentino de Córdoba (Blueshirts). By the following year, he had taken over as leader of the group, which had changed its name to the Frente de Fuerzas Fascistas in 1935.

A strong admirer of Benito Mussolini and Italian fascism, de Aquín argued that Argentine Nacionalismo should follow the Italian model by seeking to mobilise mass support but that the domestic version of fascism should put a stronger emphasis on the centrality of Catholicism to national identity than its European counterparts did.

However, de Anquín found it difficult to lead the fascist movement in the face of opposition. In 1934, he was suspended from his lectureship at the Colegio Nacional de Monserrat, in Córdoba because of the violence of his movement.

He continued to write on political matters until late in his life, focusing on his two favoured themes of militant nationalism and anti-democracy.