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Juan Fontán Lobé
Fontán on 4 April 1940
Governor of Spanish Guinea
In office 15 December 1937 – 5 March 1942
Preceded by	Manuel de Mendívil y Elío
Succeeded by	Mariano Alonso Alonso
Personal details
Born	(1894-08-21)21 August 1894 Palma de Mallorca, Kingdom of Spain
Died	14 July 1944(1944-07-14) (aged 49) Madrid, Francoist Spain
Political party	FET y de las JONS
Other political affiliations	Popular Action
Occupation	Military officer and politician

Juan Fontán Lobé (21 August 1894 – 14 July 1944) was a Spanish military officer, artilleryman, naval engineer, notable Africanist bibliographer, great connoisseur of Spanish Guinea and procurator in Cortes.

Biography

A civilian naval engineer, Fontán made a military career in the Rif War, where he survived the Disaster of Annual and was taken prisoner of war by the Rifians. He graduated as an artillery captain.

He was president of the Popular Action and owner of the newspaper Acción in Las Palmas, whose first issue appeared in April 1934.

During the early years of the Second Republic, he led street militias of the Popular Action youth groups that were often involved in political confrontations. These were part of the Nationalist takeover of public buildings in Las Palmas during the Spanish coup of July 1936. A companion of Francisco Franco in high school and during his promotion in artillery, Fontán remained as support for Luis Orgaz Yoldi in the Canary Islands in Franco's absence to assume command of the Army of Africa. He participated in the 1936 uprising in Spanish Guinea, including the bombing of the city of Bata, and temporarily assumed local authority, being responsible for instructing the proceedings against Republican officials and loyalists.

Requested to join Franco's headquarters in Salamanca, together with his brother Jesús [es] he would design the methodology to collect information and prepare personal files in the Office of Information and Anti-Communist Propaganda (OIPA).

He was later appointed governor and Provincial Head of the FET y de las JONS of Spanish Guinea from October 1937 until January 1942, and resigned from office to be appointed director general of Morocco and Colonies.

Back in Spain, he was procurator in Cortes by direct appointment of Franco, during the I Legislature of the Spanish Cortes (1943–46). He died in office.

Awards

Among Fontán's many decorations was the Grand Cross of the Order of Mehdauia [es], the Cross (with Red Decoration) of Military Merit, the Commander with Plaque of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, the Medal of Africa, Medal of the Canarian ex-combatant and silver plaque from the Santa Isabel Residents' Council.

Account on gratitude (1932) of the Ministry of the Navy at the request of José Giral, general director of Navigation, Fishing and Maritime Industries, for Fontán's advice to the Ministry on behalf of the Association of Naval Engineers.

In different towns such as Santa Isabel, Batete de Claret or Las Palmas streets were named after him.

Collectionism

The historical documentation on Africa that Fontán collected throughout his life was distributed between the National Library and the Archive of the General State Administration in Alcalá de Henares. His legacy to the National Library is essential for its documentation on Equatorial Guinea.

References

1. ^ "FONTAN LOBE, JUAN". Congreso de los Diputados (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 December 2024.
2. Checa Godoy, Antonio (1989). Prensa y partidos políticos durante la II República (in Spanish). Vol. 55 (ACTA Salmanticensia ed.). Universidad de Salamanca. p. 176. ISBN 9788474815214.
3. "ABC MADRID 09-07-1944 página 22 - Archivo ABC". abc (in Spanish). 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2024-12-30. glorioso Alzamiento, al que se sumó el mismo día 18 de julio de 1936 al mando de una milicia ciudadana, creada por él en Las Palmas, en 1933, cuando ostentaba la jefatura de Acción Popular en la hermosa ciudad canaria
4. "Persona – Fontán Lobé, Jesús (1901–1980)". PARES (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-30.
5. Romero, Jesús Espinosa; López, Sofía Rodríguez (2015). El Archivo de la Guerra Civil en Salamanca: de la campaña a la transición (in Spanish) (Paseo documental por el Madrid de antaño, 2015, ISBN 978-84-608-3478-6, págs. 131–155 ed.). pp. 131–155. ISBN 978-84-608-3478-6. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
6. Durán, Javier (2022-10-02). "El cerebro de la represión que se echó a un lado". La Provincia – Diario de Las Palmas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-30.
7. "Decreto núm. 372.- Nombro Gobernador General de los Territorios Españoles en el Golfo de Guinea, a D. Juan Fontán Lobe". Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Burgos. 3 October 1937. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
8. "DECRETO de 21 de enero de 1942 por el que se dispone el cese en el cargo de Gobernador General de los Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea a don Juan Fontán y Lobé" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (22): 487. 22 January 1942. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
9. "DECRETO de 21 de enero de 1942 por el que se nombra Director General de Marruecos y Colonias, don Juan Fortán y Lobé" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (22): 487. 22 January 1942. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
10. "La etnología y la política indígena" (in Spanish) (Conferencia en la Facultad de Medicina de San Carlos ed.). Madrid: Director General de Marruecos y Colonias. 26 May 1943. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
11. "Don Juan Fontán, HIJO ILUSTRE DE LA PATRIA - Hombre amante de España, fiel al Caudillo y trabajador infatigable por la grandeza nocional" (PDF). Falange: diario de la tarde (in Spanish). Las Palmas. 14 July 1944.
12. "Próximamente se entregará la Medalla del ex-combatiente canario al Generalísimo – También le ha sido concedido al teniente general Orgaz, general García Escámez, Fontán Lobé y Reyna Medina" (PDF). Falange: diario de la tarde (in Spanish). Las Palmas. 18 July 1943.
13. Deporte, Ministerio de Cultura y (2003). "Biblioteca Virtual de Prensa Histórica". prensahistorica.mcu.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-30. nuestro Consejo de Vecinos, en agradecimiento a la meritoria labor en beneficio de los intereses de esta Entidad, realizada por el Excmo. Sr. Don Juan Fontán y Lobé, Gobernador General, le ha ofrecido una placa de plata, repujada con el escudo de esta Capital de Santa Isabel y esta inscripción:" El Consejo de Vecinos de Santa Isabel de Fernando Poo al Excmo. Sr. Don Juan Fontán y Lobé, Gobernador General de estos Territorios, por su meritoria labor en beneficio de los intereses de esta Capital.— Julio de 1939.— Año de la Victoria
14. Diario oficial del Ministerio de Marina: Año XXVII Número 226 – 1932 septiembre 23. Imprenta del Ministerio de Marina. 1932-09-23. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
15. Villullas, Adzubenam (2021-01-24). "La desconocida calle del franquista de Guinea Ecuatorial en Schamann". La Provincia – Diario de Las Palmas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-30.
16. Villullas, Adzubenam (2023-02-06). "La polémica en Canarias por una calle al golpista mallorquín Juan Fontán llega al Senado". Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-30.
17. Villullas, Adzubenam (2023-02-03). "La retirada de la calle dedicada al golpista Juan Fontán llega al Senado". La Provincia – Diario de Las Palmas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-30.
18. Lobé, Juan Fontán (1946). Bibliografía colonial: contribución a un índice de publicaciones africanas (in Spanish). Dirección general de Marruecos y colonias. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
19. Deporte, Ministerio de Cultura y (2003). "Biblioteca Virtual de Prensa Histórica". prensahistorica.mcu.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-30. La señora viuda de don Juan Fontán y Lobe, que falleció siendo director general de Marruecos y Colonias, acaba de ceder a la citada Dirección General la importante biblioteca que con esfuerzo inteligente llegó a reunir su difunto esposo. Consta de obras de gran interés, con las cuales se enriquecerá la Biblioteca de dicha Dirección.
20. "África". Biblioteca Nacional de España (in Spanish). Ministerio de Cultura. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2024.

• 1894 births
• 1944 deaths
• People from Palma de Mallorca
• Spanish military engineers
• Spanish military personnel of the Rif War
• Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction)
• 20th-century Spanish politicians
• Popular Action (Spain) politicians
• FET y de las JONS politicians
• Members of the Cortes Españolas
• Spanish colonial governors and administrators
• People from Spanish Guinea
• Crosses of Military Merit
• Commanders of the Order of Isabella the Catholic