Pilar Millán-Astray

Pilar Millán Astray (1879 – 22 May 1949) was a Spanish writer and playwright. Recent research shows that she was a spy for the Germans before World War I and her literary success. She was later imprisoned for her fascist views and it is said that she suffered from the misogynistic regime that she had helped bring to power.

Life Astray was born into a privileged life in A Coruña. Her parents were José Millán Astray and Pilar Terreros. Her brother (also) José Millán-Astray was a Spanish general and the founder of the Spanish Legion. She married and had three sons Javier, Carmen and Pilar. The most important character spied on was the British Ambassador to Spain Sir Arthur Henry Hardinge. The German's representative, Alberto Hornemann, paid 1,000 pesetas for each document handed over. She also wrote for La Nación, El Espectador and El Sol newspapers. The imprisonment damaged her health and she died when she participated in a tribute to the actress Josita Hernán in Madrid in 1949.

In 1970 her play, The Complete Idiot, was made into a film. It was a remake of a film of the same name released in 1939.