Josep Eduardo Almudéver Mateu, the last veteran of the International Brigades, has died at the age of 101.
Josep was born on 30 July 1919 in Marseille into a family of Spanish emigrants. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, he joined the Republican forces. Initially he fought in the Pablo Iglesias Battalion, then with French citizenship he joined the International Brigades. In 1939 he was captured by the Francoists and imprisoned in a concentration camp. After his release he was active in the resistance movement.
Almudever remained faithful to leftist ideals throughout his life and upheld the memory of the Second Spanish Republic and the International Brigades. In 2016, he took an active part in Madrid's celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the International Brigades: he inaugurated the square named after the Brigades and took part in an author's evening dedicated to the publication of his memoirs. Representatives of the Ochotnicy Wolności Association ( Freedom Volunteers Association) had the honour of meeting him in person at the time.
As the volunteers of the International Brigades pass away, the memory of them and the values that guided them when they went to Spain remain with us.
