Jesús Hernández Tomás
| Jesús Hernández Tomás | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister of Education and Fine Arts | |
|
In office 4 September 1936 – 17 May 1937 |
|
| Preceded by | Francisco Barnés Salinas |
| Succeeded by | Segundo Blanco |
| Minister of Education and Health | |
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In office 17 May 1937 – 5 April 1938 |
|
| Preceded by | Federica Montseny (Health) |
| Succeeded by | Segundo Blanco |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1907 Murcia |
| Died | 11 January 1971 Mexico |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Politician |
Jesús Hernández Tomás (1907 – 11 January 1971) was a Spanish communist leader. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) he was Minister of Education and Fine Arts, then Minister of Education and Health. After the war he went into exile in Oran, Moscow and then Mexico. He was expelled from the party in 1944 for disloyalty to the leadership, and purged from the official history of the party after writing a book in 1953 critical of the Stalinist role in the Civil War.
Jesús Hernández Tomás was born in Murcia in 1907. He was one of the founders of the Communist Party in Biscay. In 1922 he was part of the guard of Óscar Pérez Solís, Secretary General of the Spanish Communist Party (Partido Comunista Español, PCE). Hernández participated in the failed attack on the socialist Indalecio Prieto. In 1927 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth. Hernández was arrested in 1929 and released the next year. Hernández went to the Soviet Union around the time the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed in 1931. He studied at the Leninist School in Moscow.
In 1932 the Spanish Communist Party made a major change in direction when it abandoned the Comintern slogan "Workers' and Peasants' Government" and adopted "Defense of the Republic". Hernández Tomás was among the new leaders of the party who succeeded José Bullejos. The others were José Díaz, Vicente Uribe, Antonio Mije and Juan Astigarrabía. That year Hernández became a member of the PCE Politburo in charge of agitprop. He returned to Spain in 1933, and was made editor of the PCE journal Mundo Obrero (Worker's World).
Hernández was elected Deputy for Cordoba in the 1936 elections. After the outbreak of Spanish Civil War (1936–39), on 8 August 1936 he said clearly "We cannot talk today of the proletarian revolution in Spain, because the historical circumstances do not permit it." The Stalinists did indeed provide substantial support for the Giral and Caballero governments, including important military aid from the USSR. President Francisco Largo Caballero appointed Hernández Minister of Education and Fine Arts on 4 September 1936.
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