Fernando Nadra (June 29, 1916, San Miguel de Tucumán, – August 22, 1995, Buenos Aires) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist and public speaker. He was one of the most important leaders of the Partido Comunista Argentino (Argentine Communist Party) and, from his Marxist ideological perspective, took part in most of the important political debates of his time. He stood out from other left-wing leaders of his time for his abilities as an organizer and collective activist, and his numerous attempts to promote agreement among different political sectors through pluralistic dialogue.
As many of his contemporaries, he experienced persecutions, prison and censure.
Childhood and youth
Nadra was born to Syrian immigrants, who arrived in San Miguel de Tucumán at the beginning of the 20th century. His mother, Nabiha Louis, was a teacher in her native town, Damascus. His father, Nallib Nadra, a native of Homs, amassed an important fortune in Argentina. Though he started out as a modest trader, he went on to become the first agent of FIAT in the northwest and, later, he devoted himself to the sugar industry.
From his adolescence Fernando Nadra stood out in the social and cultural life of his province. In 1938, at the age of 22, he published his first book of poems “Visión de Cumbre” (Summit View). One of those poems was analyzed in the Argentine volume of a British 19-volume book about the impact of the Spanish Civil War on intellectuals from Hispanic–American countries.
Later, in 1943, Nadra was one of the founders of the poetic and cultural Movement of the Argentine Northwest, with headquarters in Tucumán's La Carpa (The Tent). This movement included personalities like Raúl Galán, Manuel J. Castilla, Raúl Aráoz Anzoátegui, María Adela Agudo, Nicandro Pereyra, Julio Ardiles Gray o José Fernández Molina).
Student leader
Nadra first became involved in politics at the age of 14, as the leader of a take-over at Colegio Nacional Mitre (Mitre National School) in the city of Tucumán, after which he was violently arrested by the local police. Soon after, he was appointed president of Federación de Estudiantes Secundarios de Tucumán (High School Students' Federation of Tucumán).
He studied Law at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (National University of Cordoba) where he was chosen Secretary of the Students' Centre and, eventually, President of the Federación Universitaria de Córdoba (University Federation of Cordoba). In June 1942, in this role, he delivered a eulogy for his advisor and friend Deodoro Roca, the most important figure of the Reforma Universitaria de 1918 (Argentine University Reform of 1918).
Between 1937 and 1939, he was President of the Federación Universitaria Argentina (Argentine University Federation) and had a crucial role as speaker for the antifascist positions in the III National Congress of Students called by FUA Córdoba in October, 1942.
In 1941, Nazi Germany demanded Ramón S. Castillo's federal intervention of Córdoba and Nadra's detention because –while leading the massive protest on Argentina's Flag Day– Nadra had demanded that the Nazi flag should be replaced by the Argentine flag. The demand was rejected by the police force at the place. The local newspaper "Córdoba" depicted Nadra's reaction as follows; "...the young student, who had climbed and reached one of the ends of the Nazi flag, hung it up himself and without losing it, jumped into the sidewalk. The weight of his body broke the flagpole of the flag and everything dropped to the ground, where the protesters picked it up and readily destroyed it ... "
Personal and professional life, and affiliation to the Communist Party
Fernando Nadra joined the PC in 1939. Even though this decision was questioned by his family, Nadra's commitment did not waver and eventually led him to donate his personal fortune to the PC. His assets came to be handled by what was known as Board of Directors, a secret group within the PC which managed a complex network of companies including laboratories, media and the Coca-Cola Bottling Factory in Argentina.
In 1945, after being imprisoned several times and suspended for two years at the National University of Córdoba, Nadra studied on his own and took the required exams to graduate from Law School. For the next six years, he worked as a lawyer and he also joined the Tucumán Province PC, where he worked as Secretary of Education and Propaganda.
In the elections of February 1946, he was nominated as candidate to National Representative Parliament by Democratic Union, a position he lost by a hundred votes. After the triumph of Peronism, when PC called its XI Congress in Buenos Aires, Nadra attended as a delegate.