El Lute

Eleuterio Sánchez Rodríguez (born 15 April 1942), known as El Lute, was at one time listed as Spain's "Most Wanted" criminal and later became a published writer. He was a legendary Spanish outlaw who escaped several times from prison after being convicted of murder and sentenced at age 23 to 30 years. While in prison, he learned to read, earned a law degree, and became a writer, continuing to protest his innocence of the charges. He was pardoned and released on June 20, 1981, at the age of 39.

He published two memoirs, Camina o revienta (Forge on or Die) (1977) and Mañana seré libre (Dawn of Freedom) (1979) while he was still in prison. These were later adapted as a two-part film series on his life directed by Vicente Aranda and released in 1987 and 1988.

Eleuterio Sánchez Rodríguez was born in 1942 in Salamanca, in western Spain. He was born into a desperately poor merchero peasant family while his father was in prison. He never received any formal education as a child and was illiterate.

Sánchez and his family suffered discrimination as poor mercheros, who were nomadic craftsmen earning money as tinkers. They were often considered suspect by police and forced to move on. He married a young woman, Chelo, as poor as he and they had a daughter. As a young man, he stole two hens and was sentenced to six months in prison.

Soon after his release, in 1965 Sánchez was arrested and convicted of murder for the armed robbery of a jewelry store in Madrid, in which a security guard was killed. At the age of 23, he was sentenced to death for the robbery and murder., and also received "sentences totaling 1,000 years for other crimes." His death sentence was commuted to 30 years in a military prison. Maintaining his innocence, Sánchez fought his conviction. Known as El Lute, during several escapes from prison, he was listed by the police as Spain's "most wanted" criminal. His reputation became legendary, and he was a symbol of resistance to the oppression of the poor under Franco.

Although Sánchez entered prison as an illiterate peasant, he taught himself to read and became self-educated. He went on to earn a law degree, wrote five books and published two while in prison, and continued his fight to clear his name. After the change in governments, Sánchez was finally pardoned and released on June 20, 1981.

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