Francisca Pizarro Torres 1910-1989
In the brutal suppression of civilians that followed the Nationalist uprising in July 1936, women were not spared. It was enough simply to be related to a Republican sympathiser. This is the story of an incredibly courageous Alcalá woman who saw her family members gunned down by firing squad and who only survived by the skin of her teeth. It was written by her granddaughter, Juana María Malia Vera, and published in Apuntes Históricos de Alcalá de los Gazules 2006 . The original is also available on the blog Historia de Alcalá de los Gazules . My grandmother Francisca was born in Alcalá in August 1910 to Francisca Torres Amador and Antonio Pizarro Álvarez. She had three brothers, José, Antonio and Francisco, and one sister, Maria. Her mother died when Francisca was only nine years old, leaving her in charge of the household and her four siblings. The youngest, Maria, was only two. At that point she started to wear black, remaining in mourning for the rest of her life