María Asunción Milá
María Asunción Milá | |
|---|---|
 Milá in 2023 | |
| Born | 20 July 1919 Barcelona, Spain |
| Died | 13 October 2026 (aged 107) Seville, Spain |
| Occupation | Anti-death penalty activist |
| Spouse |
Manuel Salinas Benjumea
(m. 1939; died 2006) |
| Children | 12 |
| Relatives |
|
María Asunción Milá de Salinas (née Sagnier; 20 July 1919 – 13 October 2026) was a Spanish human rights activist and aristocrat known for her advocacy against the death penalty. She served as president of Amnesty International Spain in the 1980s, and co-founded the Spanish Association against the Death Penalty in 1976. She is best known for her long campaign persuading popes to ban the death penalty in the catechism, which was ultimately successful under Pope Francis in 2018. She was also an influential voice for the abolition of the death penalty leading up to the 1978 referendum for the Constitution of Spain.
Biography
[edit]Milá was born on 20 July 1919 in Barcelona[1][2] to a father who had been granted the title of Count. She married a Sevillian painter named Manuel Salinas Benjumea on 2 July 1939,[3] and moved to Seville with him.[4][1] She stated that she struggled to find a wedding location due to the recent ending of the Spanish Civil War.[5] She and Manuel went on to have 12 sons born between 1940 and 1965.[6]
She became an activist against the death penalty in March 1974 after hearing of the execution of Salvador Puig Antich.[7] She has stated that this decision was due to her goal to "give life and defend life" and her view that "God didn't want" the death penalty. By 1976, she had co-founded the Spanish Association against the Death Penalty, which she served as the Secretary of. She went from ministry to ministry seeking to persuade people to support the abolition of the death penalty in the 1978 Spanish Constitution.[8] She never officially registered the Association.[9]
Milá was asked if she would support a law instead, as the military would not permit a total ban, but she instead went to meet the military and to meet Minister of Justice Landelino Lavilla, where she demanded it be included in the constitution. Ultimately, the persuasion succeeded, and the ban was included in the constitution.[2] She subsequently served as president of Amnesty International Spain in the 1980s.[10]
She began writing letters to popes around this time advocating for banning the death penalty in the catechism, and became more active in this in 1993 after more permissiveness towards the death penalty was considered. In 2015, one of her letters was personally delivered to Pope Francis with a message that she was not willing to die until the issue was resolved. He sent her a letter eight days later, informing her that he would assign Christoph Schönborn to analyzing the issue, and enclosed a rosary.[5] She was cited as one of the main triggers of the 2018 Modification to the Catechism making the death penalty no longer permissible, and received a personal call from the Vatican informing her.[11]
In 2016, she was honored by the University of Seville College of Law[12] where she was called the "bishop's hammer".[13]
Milá also advocated for women becoming priests. However, she espoused strongly anti-abortion views. She was against the Catalan independence movement,[2] asserting that "Nationalism is a disease that destroys nations".[9]
Milá died in Seville on 13 October 2026, at the age of 107.[14]
Personal life
[edit]Her husband died in 2006.[3] Her eldest son Manuel de Salinas was also a painter and died at the age of 80 in January 2021 from COVID-19.[3][6] She also outlived two of her other sons José María and Diego.[3] She had 22 grandchildren.[6] Her granddaughter Alejandra de Salinas married politician José María Michavila.[2]
She was a Roman Catholic.[15] She was the aunt of television presenters Mercedes Milá and Lorenzo Milá.[2]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Córdoba, Ignacio Medina Fernández de (2 September 2026). "Ignacio Medina Fernández de Córdoba: María Asunción Milá". Diario ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Romero, Ana García (21 July 2023). "María Asunción Milá, la tía centenaria de Mercedes Milá que defiende al Rey Juan Carlos". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Rubio, Cristina (13 October 2026). "Muere a los 107 años María Asunción Milá, la aristócrata sevillana que luchó contra la pena de muerte". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Ballester, José María (14 October 2026). "Una gran dama contra la pena de muerte". El Debate (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 October 2026.
- 1 2 Correal, Francisco (14 October 2026). "'Santidad, tenemos un problema'". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- 1 2 3 Correal, Francisco (4 July 2019). "Mamá (Coraje) cumple cien años". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Bores, Pedro Ybarra (9 October 2018). "María Asunción Milá: «Antes era absolutamente contraria a la prisión permanente, pero he cambiado»". Diario ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ Martínez, Ángel (6 August 2018). "La española de 99 años que presionó al papa Francisco para erradicar la pena de muerte". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- 1 2 "Asunción Milá: 'Los nacionalismos son una enfermedad que destroza a los pueblos'". okdiario.com (in Spanish). 11 June 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ "María Asunción Milá, aunt of Mercedes Milá, has passed away". Bezzia. 14 October 2026. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ Bayort, Jesús (3 August 2018). "La española que logró que el Papa declare «inadmisible» la pena de muerte". Diario ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ "Tribute to María Asunción Milá for her fight against the death penalty". Archdiocese of Seville. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ Correal, Francisco (26 April 2025). "Carta con remite del Vaticano a la Casa Salinas". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ Ávila, Fernando Pérez (13 October 2026). "Muere a los 107 años María Asunción Milá de Salinas, aristócrata y activista contra la pena de muerte". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ "María Asunción, la mujer sevillana de 99 años que escribió al Papa para que cambiara el Catecismo". Cadena COPE (in Spanish). 8 August 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
