José Pellicer Gandía

José Pellicer Gandía (1912–1942) was a Valencian anarchist revolutionary primarily known for commanding the Iron Column during the Spanish Civil War. Born into a well-off family, after the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic, Pellicer became an anarchist and joined the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). He participated in a series of anarchist uprisings throughout the 1930s, establishing defence committees that set the foundation for the militias that would fight in the civil war. He co-founded the Iron Column, which pushed the Nationalists out of Valencia and into the province of Teruel, where he fought on the front lines. During the war, he came into conflict with the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), with the Servicio de Información Militar (SIM) arresting and imprisoning him. Despite this, he continued to fight in the Spanish Republican Army after the Iron Column's dissolution, as commander of the 83rd Mixed Brigade and later within the 109th Mixed Brigade. With the end of the war, he was captured and executed by the Francoist dictatorship.