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Pierre Schwartz ... Pierre Schwartz was an Alsatian officer in Napoleon's army that was defeated in Spain during the Battle of Bailén in 1808. As part of the rearguard covering Napoleon's retreat, he was captured and imprisoned in the Canary Islands. Despite his initial prisoner status, Pierre Schwartz was freed, married and his descendants entered into the mainstream of the political life of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with two of his descendants being elected mayor. [1] Today, one of the city's major points of interest is the Avenue Pedro Schwartz (known as The Wall). [2] (One will note the transformation of his forename to its Spanish version.)
His illustrious descendants include the diplomat Juan Schwartz Díaz-Flores, the economist Pedro Schwartz and the soprano Sylvia Schwartz.
- Juan Schwartz Díaz-Flores, Spanish ambassador to Austria between World War I and World War II. In the same way that Raoul Wallenberg did later at Budapest, he and other Spanish diplomats managed to save many Jews from persecution by the Nazis. They did this by resurrecting a 1924 decree of the Spanish government that automatically bestowed Spanish nationality on any Jew who could prove his Sephardic origins. They deliberately omitted to add that the decree had expired 7 years later. Luckily, the Nazis never double checked their claim.
- The wife of Juan Schwartz Díaz-Flores is Carmen Girón Camino. She is a niece of the celebrated poet, León Felipe, and a first cousin of one of the outstanding Mexican bullfighters of the 20th c, Carlos Arruza (whose baptismal name was Carlos Ruiz Camino), known as "El Ciclón".)
- His son, Pedro Schwartz who is considered the father of modern liberalism in Spain.. Before presenting a summary biography, it is important to point out the difference between the European and American meanings of the word "liberalism". The European usage, often preceded by "classical", refers to a political philosophy emphasizing limited government and the liberty of the individual, including his property rights (see Classical liberalism). Its economic framework is based on that of the Austrian school. American liberalism advocates an active role for government in areas such as fiscal and monetary policy, unemployment, health care and the environment (see Modern liberalism in the United States). In economics, it relies on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes.
As a student at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, he openly espoused a change of regime from the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco to a constitutional monarchy. Despite being the son, nephew and brother of Spanish diplomats, his political views led to his being barred entry to the Spanish diplomatic service. This exclusion proved fortuitous in that it led to his continuing his studies, not in Spain, but at the London School of Economics where he obtained a doctorate. It was there that he studied under two of the leading liberal intellectuals of the time, Karl Popper and Lionel Robbins.
Upon his return to Spain, he first worked for the Banco Urquijo and then the Banco de España. He also obtained an assistant professorship at the Universidad Complutense. For his role in a strike organised by the the Union of Independent Professors in 1969, the Franco regime placed him under houise arrest during two months in Lezuza in the southeast of Spain, far away from Madrid.
The following year, he obtained a full professorship at theUniversidad Complutense. From then on, he participated in a wide variety of activities: doctoral thesis advisor, founder of the Unión Liberal political party, elected member of the Spanish parliament.
On 3rd July 2012, Pedro Schwartz debated the Nobel Prize laureate economist, Paul Krugman, at the Fundación Rafael del Pino in Madrid. The video of this encounter, where Pedro Schwatz strongly attacked Krugman, went viral on the Internet with over one million views.
- His granddaughter, Sylvia Schwartz, who is the subject of a separate Wikipedia biographical article.
References
edit- ^ The family's origins are related in the biography of Pedro Schwartz posted on the Web site of the descendants of the Spanish poet, León Felipe (see link below).
- ^ See the Wikipedia article on Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
External links
edit- Biography of Pedro Schwartz on the Leon Felipe Web site [1]
- Biography of Pedro Schwartz on the Spanish version of Wikipedia[2]
- Biography of Juan Schwartz Díaz-Flores on the Leon Felipe Web site [3]
- Biography of Juan Schwartz Díaz-Flores on the Leon Felipe Web site [4]
- List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust [5]