Mariano Puigdollers Oliver

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Mariano was descendant to an old Catalan family; the Puigdollers were of noble origins and got very much branched throughout the centuries.Puigdollers entry, [in:] Heraldry Institute of Rome service, available [https://www.heraldrysinstitute.com/lang/es/cognomi/Puigdollers/Espa%26ntilde%3Ba/idc/650481/# here] Some of his distant ancestors and relatives distinguished themselves locally as writers, lawyers or astronomers.González Díaz-Llanos, Antonio Ezequiel, Don Mariano Puigdollers y Oliver, [in:] Anuario de filosofia del derecho 1966, p. 347 His paternal grandfather Mariano Puigdollers, the native of Vich, was a craftsman and member of the local petty bourgeoisie. He married a local girl, María Vinader; she was the daughter of Ramón Vinader, a conservative Cortes deputy during the late Isabelline period and the minister of justice in the Estella-based Carlist government during the Third Carlist War.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, pp. 347-348 Their son and Mariano's father, Mariano Puigdollers Vinader (died 1928),Las Provincias 04.12.28, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000318844&posicion=8&presentacion=pagina here] moved from Catalonia to Madrid, where he initially worked in a jewelry studio and specialized in diamonds;Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 347 it is not clear whether he was its owner.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, pp. 347-348 At unspecified time he married Remedios Oliver Ceniceros, originating from La Mancha but partially Catalan herself; nothing closer is known about her family.his maternal grandparents were Juan Oliver (from Bergoña, Gerona) and Andrea Ceniceros (from Cenicero, Logroño); Natividad Araque Hontangas, Puigdollers Oliver, Mariano (1896-1984), [in:] Diccionario de catedráticos españoles de derecho (1847-1943), UC3M service 04.04.2014, available [https://web.archive.org/web/20200806102524/http://portal.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/instituto_figuerola/programas/phu/diccionariodecatedraticos/lcatedraticos/mpuigdollers here] In 1903 Mariano Puigdollers Vinader and his brother Luciano purchased a defunct watermill La Moneda in Segovia; they re-launched it in 1907 and operated afterwards.Amparo Martín Espinosa, Molinos de la Casa de Moneda de Segovia, [in:] Mario Sanz Elorza, Asunción Valdés del Fresno, José María Izaga Reiner (eds.), X Congreso Internacional de Molinología, Segovia 2016, {{ISBN|9788460877158}}, p. 476 After death of her husband Remedios Oliver sold the business.Araque Hontangas 2014. Some sources refer to Mariano Puigdollers as member of the "industriales" or "gran burguesía industrial", but it is not clear what the basis for this statement is, A. Sáez Alba, La ACNP: La otra cosa nostra, Paris 1974, available online [http://www.ruedoiberico.org/libros/textos.php?id=54 here]. No other sourcr confirms Puigdollers' engagement in industrial or business activities

The couple had numerous children; Mariano was the oldest son.followed by Ramón, see Ramón Puigdollers Oliver entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available [https://gw.geneanet.org/pedro30?n=puigdollers+oliver&oc=&p=mariano here], Luciano, see Luciano Puigdollers Oliver entry, [in:] Asociación Católica de Propagandistas service, available [https://www.acdp.es/_old26062016/?page_id=10706 here], María, see ABC 23.08.84, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1984/08/23/069.html here], Rosario and José, see Rosario Puigdollers Oliver and José Puigdollers Oliver entries, [in:] My Ancestry service, available [https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/42/?name=_Puigdollers&name_x=_1 here] They lived in the Madrid district of Buenavista,Araque Hontangas 2014 raised in a very pious ambience marked by Catholic zeal and multiple religious engagements of Puigdollers Vinader.compare e.g. 1914 Catholic engagements of Puigdollers Vinader and his siblings, El Correo Español 13.08.14, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0029773107&page=4 here], or La Epoca 11.05.14, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000839348&page=1 here] It is not clear where Puigdollers Oliver received his early education.probably in Madrid, Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 347 Then he joined the Madrid Instituto General y Técnico de San Isidro and obtained baccalaureate with excellent marks in 1911.Araque Hontangas 2014 At unspecified time though probably in the early 1910s Puigdollers enrolled at Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Sociales at Universidad Central in Madrid; he graduated in 1916.Araque Hontangas 2014 Initially he intended to join Cuerpo de Letrados del Consejo de Estado, an elite group of lawyers working for a governmental consultative body; however, as recruitment was adjourned, he opted for doctoral research in law.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 347 In 1919 he got his PhD laurelsAraque Hontangas 2014 thanks to a thesis on Christian German philosophy of law.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 348 The same year Puigdollers applied for a post at Universidad de Murcia, but eventually he switched to Galicia and having defeated 33 counter-candidatesDíaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 349 in 1920 he assumed the chair of Elementos de Derecho Natural at the faculty of law of Universidad de Santiago.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 349

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In 1922El Eco de Santiago 02.03.22, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000266605&posicion=2&presentacion=pagina here] Puigdollers married María Isabel del Rio y Pérez-Caballero (died 1982);ABC 05.01.82, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1982/01/05/077.html here] she was daughter to José del Río y Paternina, an engineer and head of Negociado de Montes departmentLa Lectura Dominical 24.01.14, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001673001&page=15 here] in Dirección General de Agricultura, Industria y Comercio, itself the section of Ministerio de Fomento.Guia Oficial de España 1910, p. 686, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001001258&page=676 here] The couple had no children; until outbreak of the Civil War they lived mostly in Valencia, afterwards in Madrid.no children and grandchildren are listed in death notice of Puigdollers’ wife or his own one, compare ABC 01.05.82, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1982/01/05/077.html here], and ABC 23.08.84, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1984/08/23/069.html here] Among more distant Puigdollers’ relatives the one which gained nationwide notoriety was his paternal cousin, Josep Dencas Puigdollers,Josep Dencas Puigdollers is reported as the son of Francesca Puigdollers i Vinadé from Vich, a Catalanized name of Francesca Puigdollers Vinader, the sister of Mariano Puigdollers Vinader, Josep Dencas i Puigdollers, [in:] Memoria Esquerra service, available [https://memoriaesquerra.cat/biografies/dencas-puigdollers-josep here] an Estat Català politician, Cortes deputy during the Republic days and member of the Catalan self-government in 1932-1934. The younger brother of Mariano, Luciano, also an ACNdP activist, was killed by Republican militiamen when trying to flee to Andorra in 1938.Luciano Puigdollers Oliver entry, [in:] Asociación Católica de Propagandistas service, available [https://www.acdp.es/_old26062016/?page_id=10706 here]

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When assuming Elementos de Derecho Natural in Santiago in 1920 Puigdollers took over an auxiliary post and according to his later account, as a hardline Catholic he was constantly harassed by academics of Institución Libre de Enseñanza.allegedly activists related to Institución Libre controlled university promotions by of Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios, Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 349 In 1922 he was listed at position 488 at the national ranking of academics; the same year he took over the same chair in Seville. In 1924 he moved to Valencia, still chairing Elementos de Derecho Natural.Araque Hontanas 2014 Initially he was among the youngest catedráticos,however, he was not exceptionally young and there were few catedráticos younger than Puigdollers, Yolanda Blasco Gil, Entre la trayectoria universitaria y social: los catedráticos de derecho de Valencia, 1900-1939, [in:] Armando Pavón Romero (ed.), Promoción universitaria en el mundo hispánico, siglos XVI al XX, Mexico 2012, p. 196 in constant pursuit of permanent employment.Blasco Gil 2012, p. 197 Over time his position grew; apart from supervising secondary educationand 1929 Puigdollers featured in Tribunal de Examen Final del Bachillerato Universitario, entrusted with verification of bachillerato titles awarded by Instituto de Segunda Ensañanza of Valencia, Las Provincias 02.06.29, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000319621&posicion=5&presentacion=pagina here] in the late 1920s he was also taking part in internal assignment procedures.Pascual Marzal Rodríguez, Una historia sin justicia: Cátedra, política y magistratura en la vida de Mariano Gómez, Valencia 2011, {{ISBN|9788437086736}}, p. 59 He was also appointed to internal bodies investigating disciplinary cases. The one which gained particular attention was a 1929 investigation related to a secondary school professor, charged with antipatriotic and antireligious propaganda.the female professor of Normal Femenina de Valencia, Carmen García de Castro, was charged with dissemination of antipatriotic and antireligious ideas. In 1929 the rector of Valencian University appointed Puigdollers juez instructor in her case; she was denounced by a father of her student as “haberse pronunciado, dentro del ejercicio de la docencia, de manera antipatriótica, antirreligiosa, antifamiliar y antimonárquica”. The charge was chiefly about a list of mandatory books to be read by students, which included Gargantua and Pantagrual; Carmen Agulló Díaz, Expediente instruido por la Universidad de Valencia en 1929 a la profesora Da. Carmen García de Castro, debido a la acusación de “difundir entre sus alumnas doctrinas perniciosas”, [in:] Historia de la educación 20 (2001), p. 469 Puigdollers was nominated juez instructor; he found the defendant guiltyPuigdollers ended his investigation with conclusion that the student's right to “modesty and virtue” is above the teachers right to liberty of instruction; Puigdollers argued in favor of “subordinar el derecho a la libertad de Cátedra al de libertad de conciencia del alumnado cuando ambos derechos entren en colisión”, the student right to “pudor y virtud”, and the parents to educade his daughter the way he liked, Agulló Díaz 2001, p. 470 and recommended most severe measures, which indeed led to the person in question being fired.Puigdollers recommended maximum penalty allowed, dismissal; it was applied indeed until in 1930 Berenguer's amnesty allowed the professor back to work. She was again dismissed – this time permanently – by the Francoist regime in the 1940s; it is not clear whether Puigdollers was involved in this second dismissal, Agulló Díaz 2001, p. 471

According to some historians, in the early 1930s Puigdollers started to count among “profesores más brillantes” of law in Valencia;Blasco Gil 2012, p. 197 on the other hand, he published relatively few works and trailed behind many of his Valencian academic peers.in the 1920s-30s Puigdollers was not a very prestigious or distinguished scholar; on a university chart of scholars in law he was listed with 15+ publications, while there were 3 cases of 50+, publications, 2 cases of 40+ publications, 1 case of 30+ publications and 2 cases of 20+ publications, Blasco Gil 2012, pp. 222-223 In 1931 he was listed at position 331 in the national academic ranking.Araque Hontangas 2014 According to his own account, the new Republican authorities targeted him for ideological purges. Puigdollers was reportedly blacklisted by Fernando de los Ríos, minister of high education and the liberal militant pundit; it was the right-wing electoral victory of 1933 which prevented Puigdollers’ dismissal.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 351 He continued at his Valencian postaccording to one source Puigdollers recorded also a brief teaching episode in Granada, apparently in the 1920s or 1930s, Blasco Gil 2012, p. 202 until outbreak of the Civil War;in 1932 Puigdollers was behind the presidential table during the opening of academic course in Valencia, Las Provincias 02.10.32, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000319026&posicion=1&presentacion=pagina here] in 1935 he was listed at position 263 in the academic ranking.Blasco Gil 2012, p. 200

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The years of 1936-1939 mark the pause in Puigdollers’ academic career; at one point he was fired by the Valencian University,Blasco Gil 2012, p. 215 but got reinstated once the Nationalists took over the city and formally was employed there until 1940.Blasco Gil 2012, p. 193 However, since 1939 he was already related to Universidad de Madrid, e.g. when sitting in the jury assessing PhD thesis of Josemaría Escriva.Robert Hutchison, Their Kingdom Come, London 2012, {{ISBN|9781448109883}}, p. 127, Pedro Rodríguez, El doctorado de san Josemaría en la Universidad de Madrid, [in:] Studia et Documenta: rivista dell'Istituto Storico San Josemaría Escrivá 2 (2008), p. 86 His initial 1940 bid for the chair of philosophy of law in Madrid failed,1940 Puigdollers applied for filosofía del derecho in Madrid but lost to Wenceslao González Oliveros, Blasco Gil 2012, p. 208 but during another recruitment later the same year he was successful;Araque Hontangas 2014 his spell at the chair of filosofía de derecho would last 25 years. Between 1947 and 1951 he headed an internal committee enforcing discipline at the faculties of law and letters; he directed purges aimed at staff deemed non-compliant with the Francoist regime.Araque Hontangas 2014 He kept climbing the official academic ranking and in 1954 entered its sección primera; in 1958 he was ranked at position 19.Araque Hontangas 2014 In the late 1950s and early 1960s he was among the most distinguished academics of the capital, not infrequently delivering lectures at inauguration of academic courses at the University.in 1959 Puigdollers delivered the opening lecture at start of the academic year in Madrid. ABC 09.05.59, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1959/05/09/045.html here]; also in 1964 he started the course with a politics-related lecture on “derecho de presentación”, ABC 08.10.64, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1964/10/08/023.html here] In the mid-1960s and with 46 years of teaching he counted among the longest serving law professors,Blasco Gil 2012, p. 199 in escalafón ranked as nr 1;Universidad. Escalafón de catedráticos numerarios 1964, Madrid 1964, p. 16 he retired in 1966.Araque Hontangas 2014

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Already during his doctoral research Puigdollers focused on philosophy of law, the discipline he pursued for the rest of his life; in his choice he was inspired mostly by Fernando Pérez Bueno.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 348 Initially Puigdollers was particularly impressed by a Thomist Viktor Cathrein, to whom he dedicated the doctoral dissertationDíaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, pp. 348-349 and whose thought contributed to Puigdoller's own view on law, ethics and society.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 348; In his PhD wrote in conclusions: “muy miope fuera el que creyera que no tenia el Derecho un aspect ético, no en convenciones ni en leyes positivas, sino el la misma ley natural conocida por la razón. El Derecho Natural, que si como norma del vivir social siempre tiene un puesto en el corazón de los hombres”, quoted after Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 348 In the 1920s he turned towards the heritage of Luis Vives, presented in terms of “most pure” Spanish and Catholic orthodoxy.Puigdollers described Vives as “uno de los símbolos más puros de la España grande del siglo XVI”, and his work “uno de los más puros veneros de la Hispanidad y de la Catolicidad”, Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, pp. 350-351 Works of Antonio Rosmini and Luigi Taparelli directed Puigdollers towards Christian social thought,Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 352 while his concept of natural law was worked out thanks to influence of contemporary iusnaturalists from the older generation, Mendizábal Martín,Calvo Gonzalez 1989, p. 392 Rodríguez de Cepeda and González Castejon Elio.Benjamín Rivaya, Historia política de la filosofía del derecho español del siglo XX, [in:] Cuadernos de Filosofía del Derecho 32 (2009), p. 543

Puigdollers is considered a representative of “filosofía jurídica neotimista”,Calvo Gonzalez 1989, p. 389 a firm neo-ThomistDíaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 352 and even “best Spanish expert on St. Thomas”.“mas profundo conocedor español de la labor ciclópea de Santa Tomás” Karl Larenz, La filosofía contemporánea del Derecho y del Estado, Madrid 2008, {{ISBN|9788429015317}}, p. 32 Within broader perspective he is usually categorized as neo-Scholastic Natural Law thinker; some name him an example of “iusnaturalismo neoscolástico” vs. “iusnaturalismo neokantiano”, “iusnaturalismo de los valores” and “iusnaturalismo renovador”,Antonio Salamanca Serrano, Iusmaterialismo. Teoría del derecho de los pueblos, [in:] Revista Crítica Jurídica 29 (2010), p. 84 other prefer to count him among “filosofía tomista y neotomista” vs. “filosofía neokantina” and “filosofía de los valores”.Angeles López Moreno, Enfoques actuales a cerca del contenido temático de la Filosofía del Derecho, [in:] Funciones y fines del derecho: estudios en homenaje al profesor Mariano Hurtado Bautista, Marid 1992, {{ISBN|9788476843260}}, p. 23 In more specific typologies Puigdollers is deemed to be a member of Catholic/scholastic school vs. Falangist/ortegian school,according to one scholar, in the 1940s “the makeup of Spanish philosophy of law” was roughly about division between “Catholics” and “Falangists”; Puigdollers was among “main characters” the former, the group organized around ACNdP. It was homogeneous and Puigdollers marked one the intransigent end which rejected “materialism, apriorism, formalism, phenomenologicalism, existentialism, vitalism … and all the isms that are not a clear and accurate Christian view of the world and of mankind”, Enrico Pattaro, Corrado Roversi (eds.), A Treatise of Legal Philosophy and General Jurisprudence, Volume 12, s.l. 2016, {{ISBN|9789400714793}}, p. 482 the two competing for domination in Spanish philosophy of law of the 1940s.Pattaro, Roversi 2016, p. 483 General accounts present him among key scholars of “pensamiento reaccionario y conservador”he reportedly formed the group along with Corts, Grau and Luño Peña, though this classification is disputed, Benjamin Rivaya, Filosofía del Derecho, derechos humanos y franquismo, [in:] Anuario de filosofía del derecho 13-14 (1997), p. 937 or thinkers within “una corriente precisamente tradicional, … habitualmente conservadora y hasta reaccionaria en lo político”.“una corriente precisamente tradicional, Católica, habitualmente de tendencia tomista o neotomista, habitualmente conservadora y hasta reaccionaria en lo político”; Puigdollers was reportedly member of the group with Eduardo Calleja de la Cuesta, Wenceslao González Oliveros and Miguel Sancho Izquierdo, Benjamin Rivaya, El exilio iusfilosófico español (1936-1977/1981), [in:] Cuadernos de Filosofía del Derecho 40 (2017), p. 176 Some historians claim that he endorsed Fascist thought as related to this of St. Thomas,the logic behind a link from St. Thomas to fascism is the claim that “en la obra inmensa de Santo Tomás se refleja este poderoso sentido de unidad espiritual y de interna coherencia que caracteriza una Edad Media”; reportedly Puigdollers saw fascism as “eurocentrismo medievalista católico” and declared that “the world moves towards a new period of Middle Ages”, Raúl Morodo, Los Orígenes Ideológicos Del Franquismo: Acción Española, Madrid 1985, {{ISBN|9788420624297}}, pp. 131-2 others maintain that he defended Christian philosophy against 20th-century theories.Puigdollers intended to “rechazar el materialismo, el apriorismo, el formalismo, el fenomenologismo, el existencialismo, el vitalismo.. y todos los ismos que no sean una clara y exacta visión cristiana del Mundo y del Hombre”, Rivaya 2009, p. 563 His understanding of human rights was reportedly derived from Christian theologyPuigdollers constructed a typology of human rights, and the first of them, with precedence over others, was “right to dignity”. He did not acknowledge “right to equality” as he approached equality as “condición de todo derecho innato”, but not the right itself, Ricardo García Manrique, La filosofía de los derechos humanos durante el Franquismo, Madrid 1996, {{ISBN|9788425910029}}, p. 128 and opposed to heritage of the French Revolution.Puigdollers detached French revolution from the question of human rights as he claimed that it added nothing new to the already existing Christian doctrine on man and its rights; “good things that Revolution contributed were not new and new things were not good”, García Manrique 1996, p. 145

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All scholars agree that Puigdollers contributed to supremacy of iusnaturalismo in the Spanish philosophy of law of early and mid-Francoism;López Moreno 1992, p. 23 some refer to “escuela de Mariano Puigdollers”, which in the 1940s and 1950s inspired Agustín de Asis Garrote or Traditionalist thinkers like Francisco Elías de Tejada and Francisco Puy Muñoz.López Moreno, p. 500 However, Puigdollers’ own thought is not counted as part of Traditionalism; if named “traditionalist” it is rather because of his political engagements and not because of his theoretical vision.compare Josep Clara, Epistolari de Josep Cartañà, bisbe de Girona (1934-1963), Montserrat 2000, {{ISBN|9788484151838}}, p. 141, or José Andrés Gallego, Historia general de España y América, vol. 19, Madrid 1987, {{ISBN|9788432123597}}, p. 10. A present-day Traditionalist pundit, Miguel Ayuso, when asked "oltre ai pensatori carlisti, quale fu il panorama intelettuale politico e gius-filosofico nel fronte catolico a poi nella Spagna di Franco? quali sono stati ... i contributi migliori e, magari, de riscoprire, per esempio nell’ambito del neotomismo politico e gius-filosofico...?" mentions Gambra, Elías de Tejada or Vallet de Goytisolo, but does not refer to Puigdollers a single time, Samuele Cecotti, Miguel Ayuso, “Fu lotta maccabea, non fratricida”, La guerra civile spagnola nell’interpretazione carlista, [in:] Veritatis Diaconia 4 (2016), p. 86 His key work is the in-depth study La filosofía española de Luis Vives (1940); other major works are philosophy of law course-books Programa para un curso de Elementos de Derecho Natural (1920) and Lecciones de Filosofía del Derecho (1947)by some Lecciones is considered his key work, Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 352 and his PhD dissertation, La filosofía del Derecho de Victor Catherein (1920). A theoretical study, La justicia. Estudio filosófico-jurídico, remained unedited.Araque Hontangas 2014 Other Puigdollers’ writings are booklets with his earlier lectures,see e.g. La filosofía de la ley, en Balmes (1963), or En torno al regalismo. Existe hoy en España? (1964) articles in specialized periodicalssee e.g. Recordando a Giorgio del Vecchio, [in:] Anuario de Filosofía del Derecho 15 (1970), pp. 1-10, or Pío XII y la paz, [in:] Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Madrid 2-4 (1958), pp. 297-311 or prologues to juridical works.see e.g. prologue to Giorgio del Vechchio, Hechos y doctrinas: escritos filosóficos, jurídicos y literarios (1942), or prologue to Joaquín Arce y Florez-Valdes, La adopción de expósitos y abandonados (1968), or prologue to Tomas Roca, Historia de la obra de los tribunales tutelares de menores de España (1968)

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Puigdollers’ great-grandfather was a Carlist minister and his own father was as Carlist as well, though possibly he later adhered to the breakaway Integrist branch;in 1886 Puigdollers Vinader adhered to Jovenes Tradicionalistas, a Tradicionalist youth organization founded by Ramón Nocedal, El Siglo Futuro 15.11.86, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000106482&page=1 here] however, there is no evidence of Puigdollers’ Carlist engagements during his youth. He was rather noted as involved in lay Catholic organizations; the first one was Los Luises, where he delivered lecturesLa Epoca 11.05.14, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000839348&page=1 here] and where he grew to Junta Directiva of the Madrid branch in 1918.El Siglo Futuro 09.12.18, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000359485&page=2 here] The same year he entered ACNdPAraque Hontangas 2014 and in 1919 was active among Los Terciarios Franciscanos.El Debate 20.01.19, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=2281956&posicion=5&presentacion=pagina here] At the turn of the decade and like many ACNdP militants he turned towards social issuesJosé Luis Orella Martínez, El origen del primer Catolicismo social Español [PhD thesis, Universidad de Educación a Distancia], Madrid 2012, pp. 160, 189 and was attracted to an emerging grouping of likewise minded Christian activists. During his Galician spell Puigdollers was supporting emergence of related syndicates, named Acción Social Popular;Orella Martínez 2012, p. 198 during his Andalusian spell in the early 1920s he joined the newly established Partido Social Popular and was member of its comisión organizadora in Seville; he also presided over its Sección de Estudios Político-SocialesCalvo Gonzalez 1989, p. 394 and tried to animate Catholic syndicalism.having assumed the Seville chair Puigdollers commenced “experiencia político-sindical que allí ha de protagonizar” which coincided with “compromise en la experiencia católico-política y syndical universitaria, Calvo Gonzalez 1989, p. 392

Upon the advent of Primo de Rivera's dictatorship PSP dissolved itself and readily contributed to institutionalization of the regime.Puigdollers embraced “colaboracionismo en el proceso institucionalizador de la Dictadura” and later “vuelta a las pautas de cultura política típicas del Viejo restauracionismo (inmovilsimo, pasividad, transfuguismo, apartidismo), Calvo Gonzalez 1989, p. 395 Also Puigdollers personally welcomed the dictatorship as “awakening of the Spanish conscience and joint communitarian effort of the nation”.“representaron un despertar de la conciencia del pueblo español y de su asombrosa capacidad de integración de la obra comunitaria de la nación, habiéndose conseguido objetivos que hasta entonces parecían inasequibles”, Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 351 There is no confirmation of his membership in Primo's structures like Unión Patriótica or Somatén, yet it is clear that at his university position he enthusiastically promoted “patriarchal society of the primoriverrista dictatorship”Agulló Díaz 2001, p. 471 and was noted as one of the most conservative professors at the already right-wing-dominated University.Blasco Gil 2012, p. 213 In 1928 Puigdollers got engaged in peculiar arbitration labor structures of the regime and was appointed member of the local Comité Paritario;ABC 01.06.28, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1928/06/01/018.html here] the same year he was nominated consejal to the city ayuntamiento.El Pueblo 04.07.28, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000188402&posicion=1&presentacion=pagina here] Growing to secretary of the Valencian ACNdP branch,Araque Hontangas 2014 he kept publishing bookletsone his Puigdollers’ booklets was Organización y funcionamento del Boerdenbond (1930), a 28-page work on Belgian farmers’ league; the booklet demonstrated Puigdollers’ interest in social Catholicism and delivering lectures at Catholic organizations like Centro Escolar y Mercantil,see e.g. his 1927 lecture Cómo Dios hizo propietarios a todos los hombres and La Propiedad privada como forma histórica primitiva, Oro de Ley 28.02.28, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0004513314&page=24 here] Asociación de Amigos de Luis VivesLa Correspondencia de Valencia 04.05.29, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000246023&posicion=2&presentacion=pagina here] or Acción Católica.ABC 06.02.29, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1929/02/06/034.html here]

File:Processó Cívica - 9 d'octubre de 1933.jpg, early 1930s]]

Following the fall of Primo Puigdollers engaged in the emerging Valencian branch of Unión Monárquica Nacional, a broad Alfonsist conservative party which disintegrated shortly upon advent of the Spanish Republic.Julio López Íñiguez, La Unión Patriótica y el Somatén Valencianos (1923-1930), Valencia 2017, {{ISBN|9788491341284}}, p. 76 Though he viewed the new regime as national disaster,Puigdollers viewed the republic as “colapso en esa marcha ascendente de España”, Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 351 Puigdollers did not join any of the mushrooming new political parties. Instead, in the early 1930s he neared a monarchist circle related to the review Acción Española and from its pages sniped against the Republic;Rivaya 2009, p. 552 his last contribution identified is from 1935.José Luis Orella, Precursores intelectuales de una derecha católica española, [in:] Altar Mayor 141 (2011), p. 738 He continued as conservative Catholic pundit delivering lectures, e.g. at Legión Católica Españolahe was president of the Valencian ACNdP branch, La Correspondencia de Valencia 25.02.31, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000246585&posicion=2&presentacion=pagina here] Acción CatólicaABC 22.06.32, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1933/06/22/034.html here] or Asociación Universitaria Católica de Derecho.Las Provincias 16.02.33, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000319298&posicion=3&presentacion=pagina here] One more thread of his public activity was teaching at private Catholic education establishments; apart from Centro Escolar y MercantilMarzal Rodríguez 2011, p. 57 they included Escuela de Formacion Social de Valencia,Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, p. 352 founded by the Valencian branch of AC,ABC 19.06.36, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1936/06/19/006.html here] and in Instituto Social Obrero of Valencia; since 1934 he was its director.El Catnabrico 22.08.34, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000420018&posicion=4&presentacion=pagina here] Continuously viewed as member of the “most conservative” sector in Valencia UniversityMarzal Rodríguez 2011, p. 58 during the so-called bienio negro he protested university nominations considered subversive.in 1935 Puigdollers protested against nomination of Gerardo Abad Conde to the law chair in Canarias; in an open letter he claimed that Abad compromised himself by presiding over seizure of Jesuit property, Acción Española 79 (1935), available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0003698876&page=165 here]

File:Míting del del Cercle Tradicionalista.jpeg

Despite his family Carlist antecedents Puigdollers is not known for any legitimist engagements prior to 1936. It is not clear when exactly and why he approached Comunión Tradicionalista, though some press notes suggest that his commitment to the cause lasted at least since the mid-1930s.in early 1936 an unofficial Carlist mouthpiece, El Siglo Futuro, hailed Puigdollers as “luchador valiente e infatigable por nuestros ideales”, El Siglo Futuro 12.03.36, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000578788&page=5 here] During the 1936 electoral campaign to the Cortes he stood in Valencia province as a Traditionalist candidate within a broad right-wing alliance.ABC 10.02.36, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1936/02/10/019.html here] Some 125,000 votes gathered were not enough to ensure triumph,El Pueblo [Valencia] 23.02.36 but Puigdollers continued his political bid. In March 1936 the Carlist leader Manuel Fal Conde nominated him the regional party jefe,El Siglo Futuro 12.03.36, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000578788&page=5 here] a fairly important position given relatively important role of Valencia in the nationwide Carlist network. None of the sources consulted provides details of the nomination and clarifies what mechanism elevated a well-known, but previously unrelated academic to the post of regional leader. Puigdollers assumed an active stance and was soon noted speaking at public Carlist rallies.El Siglo Futuro 13.04.36, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000581711&page=25 here]

In late spring of 1936 Puigdollers was among key civilians engaged in anti-Republican conspiracy in the Valencian region; as one of 3 members of Comité de AlzamientoAraque Hontangas 2014 he held talks with the military from UME when arranging preparations for the rising.Andreu Gines i Sanchez, La instauració del franquisme al País Valencià, Valencia 2010, {{ISBN|9788437078113}}, p. 60 His exact whereabouts during the July Coup are unknown, except that he remained in Valencia; following the loyalist triumph Puigdollers went into hiding, in unclear circumstances managed to leave the Republican zoneAraque Hontangas 2014 and in early September 1936 he was already in the Nationalist headquarters in Burgos. He was integrated within the wartime Carlist national executive, Junta Suprema Militar, and within Sección de Asuntos Generales he assumed jefatura of the newly created Delegación General de Enseñanza.La Unión 18.09.36, available [http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0030009245&page=7 here] Nothing is known of Puigdollers’ activity at this post.according to some sources at unspecified time during the Civil War Puigdollers entered Instituto Nacional de Segunda Enseñanza de Peñaflorida in San Sebastián, Araque Hontangas 2014 Instead, in early 1937 he was recorded among Carlist heavyweights discussing potential merger with Falange Española; in February in the Portuguese Insua he was undecided,Robert Vallverdú i Martí, La metamorfosi del carlisme català: del "Déu, Pàtria i Rei" a l'Assamblea de Catalunya (1936-1975), Barcelona 2014, {{ISBN|9788498837261}}, p. 46 but during later talks with Falangist leaders he seemed favorably disposed towards some sort of alliance.Martin Blinkhorn, Carlism and Crisis in Spain 1931-1939, Cambridge 2008, {{ISBN|9780521086349}}, p. 282

File:Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg

Puigdollers was among the Carlists who complied with terms of the unification, imposed by Franco on both the Falangists and the Carlists. In late April 1937 he was nominated to Comisión de Cultura y Enseñanza, one of 6 departments in the Francoist quasi-government, Junta Técnica de Estado; within the commission he headed the sub-section of primary education.officially he was Delegado de Primera Enseñanza, El Adelanto 01.05.37, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000474339&posicion=2&presentacion=pagina here]. He might have temporarily acted even as president of the entire CCE, Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Oviedo 07.07.37, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=4077885&posicion=1&presentacion=pagina here]. Most sources agree that until early 1938 the body was presided by Pemán, see e.g. Fernando Navarro Cardoso, José María Pemán y la depuración universitaria, [in:] Todos Los Nombres service 04.09.15, p. 10, available [https://web.archive.org/web/20171007232831/http://www.todoslosnombres.org/content/materiales/jose-maria-peman-la-depuracion-universitaria here] Within the body, largely busy with purges among the teaching staff,see comments about “triste tarea de depurar de elementos desafectos al personal docente universitario”, Rivaya 2009, p. 560, or an organization devoted to the “infelicitious task of purging the universities of unaligned professors”, Pattaro, Roversi 2016, p. 479 Puigdollers was one of the hardliners.according to one source, Puigdollers maintained a hard, repressive line against a tendency to leniency, demonstrated by Peman; in August 1937 he warned the president of CSE "por haberles hablado de la posibilidad de una revisión de sanciones", Gonzalo Álvarez Chillida, José María Pemán: pensamiento y trayectoria de un monárquico (1897-1941), Cádiz 1996, {{ISBN|9788477863052}}, p. 100 However, Puigdollers demonstrated some unease about Carlist marginalization within the new Francoist structures. In October 1937 he did not appear – though he was supposed to attend – at an official academic rally in Burgos, intended to demonstrate unity of the Falangist and Carlist youth. Moreover, he was also suspected of instigating the Carlist participants and hence being co-responsible for cries “¡muera Franco, traidor!”, heard at the assembly.Josep Miralles Climent, La rebeldía carlista. Memoria de una represión silenciada: Enfrentamientos, marginación y persecución durante la primera mitad del régimen franquista (1936-1955), Madrid 2018, {{ISBN|9788416558711}}, pp. 175, 373 In response, the FET secretary Joaquín Miranda fined Puigdollers, suspended his party membership and deposed him from all functions, including the state ones; Puigdollers was also barred from re-assuming any official post until October 1939.El Adelanto 28.10.37, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000474493&posicion=2&presentacion=pagina here]

File:Conde de Rodezno.png]]

Despite Puigdollers’ ban on holding official posts, in early 1938 his fellow Carlist conde Rodezno, the minister of justice in the first Francoist government, appointed Puigdollers the head of Dirección General de Asuntos Eclesiásticos; the department was responsible for relations with the Catholic Church.Araque Hontangas 2014; one source claims that in May 1938 Puigdollers was also jefe of “Servizio de Culto y Clero”, which appears to be a department with Falange Española Tradicionalista, Pensamiento Alaves 04.05.38, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000035458&posicion=4&presentacion=pagina here] Since March 1938 he talked to Vatican on derogation of Republican divorce regulations and marriages concluded by the divorcees.Cristóbal Robles Muñoz, La Santa Sede y la II República (1934-1939), Madrid 2016, {{ISBN|9788416549504}}, p. 528 Another thread of his activity was channeling state funds for reconstruction of churches and convents destroyed in what used to be the Republican zone.for his contribution to reconstruction of religious buildings in 1984 Puigdollers was named 1984 Caballero de la Orden Ecuestre del Santo Sepulcro of Jerusalem, Araque Hontangas 2014 Corresponding with the primateJose-Andres Gallego, Anton M. Pazos (eds.), Archivo Gomá. Documentos de la Guerra Civil: Enero-marzo de 1939, vol. 13. Madrid 2010, {{ISBN|9788400092801}}, p. 82 and passim and local hierarchs, Puigdollers arranged massive administrative assistance for the Church, including concessions, tax exemptions,Clara 1988, pp. 497-529 registration of various organizationse.g. in Asociación de Hombres de Acción Católica, ABC 22.06.41, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1941/06/22/011.html here] or financial assistance to families of the religious killed by the Republicans.Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Cáceres 24.03.43, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000234712&posicion=1&presentacion=pagina here] He also encouraged depuration in religious ranks, especially with regard to priests harboring nationalist Basque or Catalan ideas.Clara 2000, p. 143

Puigdollers’ relations with the hierarchy were excellent. A member of executive bodies of various lay Catholic organizations,e.g. in 1944 he was nominated hermano mayor de la Archicofradía del Apóstol Santiago, ABC 15.08.44, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1944/08/15/005.html here] in 1938 he entered Consejo Nacional of ACNdPhe ceased in 1942, Araque Hontangas 2014 and attended its congress in Budapest;Sáez Alba 1974 in 1940 he was nominated by cardinal Goma to Consejo Superior de Acción Católica.Labor 02.04.40, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=3029805&posicion=6&presentacion=pagina here]; in 1945 he served within Junta Organizadora of XIX Congreso Mundial de Pax Romana, Araque Hontangas 2014 Some scholars present him as a man of the Church who infiltrated official administration and tried to counter religiously lukewarm Falangist designs. In 1943 as director of Asuntos Ecclesiásticos and unofficial Carlist representativeHayes asked to speak to the Carlist leader Manuel Fal Conde, but the latter was anxious that speaking to an American official might compromise his neutralist standing, Fal wanted to avoid impression that speaks to foreigners and delegated Puigdollers; Miralles Climent 2018, p. 200 Puigdollers spoke to the US ambassador Hayes; during the conversation he tried to dissociate the Francoist system from Nazism and kept underling its Catholic profile.Luis Suárez Férnandez, Franco y el III Reich: Las relaciones de España con la Alemania de Hitler, Madrid 2015, {{ISBN|9788490605233}}, p. 312 In historiography his efforts are considered successful,Puigdollers is listed among “makers of the new juridical studding destined to regulate the relations with the Church”, one of ACNDP men who entered Francoist ruling strata “to be consolidated once as one of the most relevant political families of the Franco's regime […] the members turn out to be specially relevant in the departments of Justice and Education”, Cristina Barreiro, La ACNdeP y su papel político en el primer Franquismo, [in:] Hispania Sacra LXX (2018), p. 683. He is also consistently listed as member of the ACNDP contingent on important state executive positions, Cristina Barreiro Gordillo, Los propagandistas y su papel político durante el franquismo (1939-1953), [in:] Jacek Bartyzel, Roman Bäcker, Joanna Rak, Hiszpania Franco, Radzymin 2020, {{ISBN|9788366480070}}, pp. 100-103 though he is not listed among key architects of the alliance between the Francoist state and the hierarchy.Puigdollers is mentioned neither in Cristina Martínez Carou, Cristina Méndez Salgado, Angel Miranda Ramos, Julia Moreno Casas, Lorena País Negreira, Las relaciones iglesia-estado durante el Franquismo, [in:] Xorandlit service, available [https://xorandlit.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/relaciones-iglesia-estado-en-el-franquismo.pdf here], nor in Alberto de la Hera, Las relaciones entre la Iglesia y el estado en España (1953-1974), [in:] Revista de Estudios Políticos CCXI (1977), pp. 618-646

File:Bishop's investiture by the Francoist administation.jpg, 1955]]

Puigdollers kept channeling funds for reconstruction of religious buildings until the early 1950s.ABC 08.03.51, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1951/03/08/025.html here] At that time he was also engaged in thorny concordat negotiations with Vatican; it is not clear what position he took.Díaz-Llanos, Ezequiel 1966, pp. 351-352 Once the document was signed, in the mid-1950s he was busy with its application; in public lectures he hailed the agreement as expression of perfect understanding between the Francoist state and the Holy See.ABC 29.06.54, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1954/06/29/042.html here] He was hardly missing on most high-profile religious events of the time, opening institutions and exhibitions,e.g. in 1964 Puigdollers was present at the opening of Semana Nacional de Arte Sacro in León, ABC 03.07.64, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1964/07/03/023.html here] attending conferences and commemorative eventse.g. in 1963 he took part in commemoration of Jaime Balmes, Hoja Oficial de Provincia de Barcelona 08.07.63, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000225073&posicion=8&presentacion=pagina here] or taking part in Semana Santa; he usually represented the minister of justice.ABC 03.08.56, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1956/08/03/025.html here] He was within the Spanish contingent present during the funeral of Pius XII in 1958ABC 16.10.56, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1958/10/16/031.html here] and this of John XXIII in 1963.ABC 06.06.63, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1963/06/06/011.html here] However, it is unclear what position he took towards deteriorating relations between the state and the Church, as in the early 1960s the latter started to distance itself from the regime;Paul Preston, Franco, London 1995, {{ISBN|9780006862109}}, p. 710 nothing is known of his opinion about the first draft of the law on religious liberty, promoted by Fernando Castiella and Manuel Fraga in 1964.Preston 1995, p. 718 His public statements, like the 1964 lecture opening the academic course in Madrid, were perfectly aligned with the official policy; Puigdollers defended the so-called “derecho de presentación” and spoke against revision of the concordat.ABC 08.10.64, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1964/10/08/023.html here] He ceased as director general de Asuntos Eclesiásticos in 1965,Mercedes Vázquez de Prada, El final de una ilusión. Auge y declive del tradicionalismo carlista (1957-1967), Madrid 2016, {{ISBN|9788416558407}}, p. 122 after 27 years in office.Diario de Burgos 25.07.65, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000456555&posicion=12&presentacion=pagina here]

File:Edificio central del CSIC (Madrid) 01.jpg headquarters, Madrid]]

In 1938 Puigdollers was re-admitted to official education structures; some scholars claim he kept working in Comisión de Cultura y Enseñanza,Araque Hontangas 2014 the body which was dissolved following formation of the first regular Francoist government. Others focus rather on Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, a newly created board supposed to co-ordinate scientific research and subordinated to the newly created Ministry of Education; since 1940 he headed a CSIC section focused on philosophy, theology, juridical and economic sciences.Araque Hontangas 2014 Most authors agree, however, that once in 1939 he had successfully passed the formal purge procedure himself,Puigdollers passed the official purges process in 1939; in September he was admitted to Instituto Nacional de Segunda Enseñanza in Burgos and in October 1939 he was officially re-admitted to academic work, Araque Hontangas 2014 Puigdollers started to co-ordinate the process of purging universities of unaligned professors.Pattaro, Roversi 2016, p. 479 Within a triumvirate formed jointly with Eugenio Vegas Latapié and Enrique Suñer Ordóñez he reportedly controlled access to academic posts in the period of the late 1930s and the early 1940;Ricardo Gurriarán, Ciencia e conciencia na universidade de Santiago, 1900-1940: do influxo institucionista e a JAE á depuración do profesorado, Santiago de Compostela 2006, {{ISBN|9788497506441}}, s. 651, Ricardo Robledo, Esta salvaje pesadilla. Salamanca en la Guerra civil española, Salamanca 2007, {{ISBN|9788484329015}}, p. 223 some scholars speak about “terror intellectual” they inflicted upon the academic world.Rivaya 2009, p. 570

In historiography there are slightly different opinions on Puigdollers’ role in CSIC of the 1940s and 1950s. In most works the stress is on his role in repressive measures against academics considered not sufficiently committed to the regime and on implementation of the Francoist orthodoxy. Some scholars, however, prefer rather to note his stand in confronting the Falangist influence. They claim that CSIC was “principal cover for Opus Dei's assault on higher education”, a vehicle of imposing Catholic doctrine within the Spanish academic structures.Hutchison 2012, p. 127 Within this perspective, Puigdollers along scholars like Miguel Sancho Izquierdo, Enrique Luño Peña, José Corts Grau, Francisco Elías de Tejada and Joaquín Ruiz-Gimenez served as a bulwark against the Falangist, Ortega-oriented current in philosophy of law.Rivaya 2009, p. 563, p. 483 Puigdollers was also involved in controversy which seems to be of personal origin.Sebastian Martín, Funciones del jurista y transformaciones del pensamiento jurídico-político español (1870-1945) II, [in:] Historia constitucional: Revista Electrónica de Historia Constitucional 12 (2011), p. 184

File:Opus Dei cross.svg logotype]]

According to some authors, by means of his presence in CSIC Puigdollers controlled access to professorships in the philosophy of law until the 1960s.Pattaro, Roversi 2016, p. 491 However, other historians claim that in the mid-1950s he was gradually losing ground in the scientific board. As a scholar of traditionalist leaning he was increasingly at odds with a group of officials representing the Opus Dei clique, dominating in CSIC.in 1955 Puigdollers entered the ACNdP elite as he became socio numerario of the organization, Araque Hontangas 2014 They were reportedly bent on getting Don Juan Carlos declared as the future Spanish king and determined not to allow control of the body by another monarchist grouping. Perturbed by proliferation of books of “un-spoilt Traditionalist thought” and resolute to counter Carlist cultural policy, in 1957 they allegedly blocked Puigdollers’ access to presidency of the Consejo.Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 122 In the late 1950s the opusdeistas, led by Laureano López Rodó, prevented also Puigdollers’ rise to president of Insituto de Estudios Jurídicos, where he was promoted by the Carlists. According to some scholars, his failure to land the job was detrimental to Traditionalist offensive in media, culture and science; they “perdieron las armas para hacer en estos cinco años una docena de catedráticos, que el carlismo necesita”.Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 123

File:Palacio de la Marquesa de la Sonora (Madrid) 03.jpg

In mid-1938 Puigdollers was appointed to Consejo Superior de Protección de Menores, a body controlled by the Ministry of Justice and entrusted with management of redemption program for juvenile offenders. Initially nominated its vice-president,Araque Hontangas 2014 in 1941 he was already referred to as president of the body.ABC 27.05.41, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1941/05/27/011.html here] It is not clear how long he headed the Consejo, as in the early 1950s he was again noted as its vice-president.ABC 05.11.54, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1954/11/05/040.html herel] In addition, since 1941 Puigdollers served as president of Tribunal de Apelación de MenoresBarreiro 2018, p. 684 and as member of Patronato de Protección a la Mujer,Barreiro 2018, p. 685 one more Ministry of Justice dependent body bent on preventing female crime; it dealt chiefly with prostitution, though was also engaged in ideology-driven repressive measures. Last but not least, since the early 1940s Puigdollers was also director and professor of Ética y Derecho Natural at Escuela de Estudios Penitenciarios in Madrid.Araque Hontangas 2014 Like in case of education, also as prominent official within the Francoist penitentiary system Puigdollers is viewed as an ACNdP man, who together with conde Rodezno, José Agustín Perez del Pulgar and Maximo Cuervo RadigalesPeter Anderson, Miguel Ángel del Arco Blanco, Mass Killings and Violence in Spain, 1936-1952: Grappling with the Past, London 2014, {{ISBN|9781135114923}}, p. 511 worked on particular state and Church synergy. During early Francoism they were the men who “legislaron todo lo relative a la organización de prisiones y además escribieron sobre ello”.Gutmaro Gómez Bravo, Conversión: la Iglesia y la política penitenciaria de postguerra, [in:] Historia Social 78 (2014), p. 109

File:Reparto de lotes entre personas necesitadas (1 de 3) - Fondo Marín-Kutxa Fototeka.jpg campaign to aid poor women and youngsters, Spain, mid-1940s]]

It is not clear how long Puigdollers served in Tribunal de Apelación and the women's Patronato; last press notes on his engagement come from the early 1940s. It is not the case of Consejo Superior de Protección de Menores; in 1948 Puigdollers has already received corporate homages for 10 years of his engagement in juvenile redemption system.ABC 07.09.48, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1948/09/07/010.html here] He kept serving as vice-president throughout the 1950s and entered Junta Nacional contra el Analfabetismo.ABC 14.09.50, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1950/04/19/012.html here] Puigdollers believed that juvenile crime was not the product of social or economic conditions, but resulted mostly from deficiencies in family life; hence, his focus was on enhancing traditional values in the Spanish society.he declared that “no son las condiciones económicas el principal motivo de esta creciente delincuencia infantil”, Revista de Educación 133 (1961), p. 353 His views on dynamics of juvenile crime are not clear; during a closed session in 1960 he expressed concern about growing crime among the youth, principally car theft, vandalism and sex-related offences;Revista de Educación 133 (1961), pp. 352-353 however, in a widely publicized statement of 1961 he declared that in principle, there was no such thing as juvenile crime in Spain.ABC 19.02.61, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1961/02/19/054.html here] Upon achieving the regular retirement age in 1965 Puigdollers resigned from his scholarship at Escuela de Estudios Penitenciarios,Araque Hontangas 2014 but his duties at Patronato continued. The same year he was again appointed its acting presidentABC 09.10.65, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1965/10/09/026.html here] and performed this role until 1968,ABC 30.07.68, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1968/07/30/028.html here] when he was nominated the honorary president. However, he retained some influence within the organization, as at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s he was still recorded as engaged in some of its activities. Like 30 years earlies, his focus was on co-operation with the Church and role of religious re-education institutions, like the ones ran by the Jesuits.Antonio Marín Cara, Almería y los Jesuitas: Cien años en compañía 1911-2011, Almeria 2015, {{ISBN|9788416027743}}, p. 454

File:Coat of Arms of Spain (1939-1945).svg

Because of his official assignments Puigdollers exercised tangible influence in various areas of public life during early and mid-Francoism. His positions first in Comisión de Cultura y Enseñanza and then in Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas were related to education and science; his role in Asuntos Eclesiásticos department rendered him an important man in relations between the state and the Church; his presence in Consejo Superior de Protección de Menores and other similar boards allowed him to shape penitentiary and redemption system. However, when implementing and shaping the Francoist order he was an administrator and a propagandist rather than a key decision-maker; he has never hold major posts and one scholar named him a “second-row politician”.Josep Clara, Epistolari del bisbe de Girona amb el govern de Franco (1941-1945), [in:] Annals de l’Institut d’Estudis Gironins 30 (1988), p. 497

Upon the 1943 emergence of the Francoist quasi-parliament, Cortes Españolas, Franco included Puigdollers in the pool of his personal nominees. He kept re-appointing Puigdollers every time the new chamber was assembled, which translated into 8 successive nominations in 1943, 1946, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1958, 1961 and 1964. The last term expired in 1967, yet upon reaching the regular retirement age Puigdollers decided to vacate most positions and in 1965 resigned also his Cortes ticket;ABC 22.09.65, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1965/09/22/046.html here] he turned out to be one of the longest serving members of the Francoist parliament, with 32 successive years in the chamber.see Puigdollers record at the official Cortes service, available [http://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/Congreso/SDocum/ArchCon/SDHistoDipu/SDIndHistDip?_piref73_1340024_73_1340023_1340023.next_page=/wc/servidorCGI&CMD=VERLST&BASE=DIPH&FMT=DIPHXLDA.fmt&DOCS=1-125&DOCORDER=FIFO&OPDEF=Y&QUERY=%2892260%29.NDIP. here] However, little is known of his labors. They were usually related to juridical system, e.g. in 1943 he was noted working on draft of a law on “jurisdicción contencioso-administrativa”,Diario de Burgos 05.03.44, available [https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000449952&posicion=8&presentacion=pagina here] in 1957 on legislative projects related to criminal law,ABC 13.04.57, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1957/04/13/016.html here] in 1958 on governmental amendments to civil codeABC 16.07.58, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1958/07/16/028.html here] and in 1963 on setting up Tribunal de Orden Publico.Ruiz Resa, Josefa Dolores, Política, economía y método en la investigación y aprendizaje del derecho, Granada 2014, {{ISBN|9788490851128}}, p. 39

File:Star of the Collar Grand Cross Grade of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.svg

Puigdollers enjoyed limited personal access to Franco and a few times was officially reported as admitted by the dictator, e.g. in 1943,ABC 13.02.44, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1944/02/13/023.html here] 1963ABC 25.04.63, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1963/04/25/057.html here] or 1966.ABC 27.01.66, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1966/01/27/029.html here] Apart from various corporate homages he received throughout his service, Puigdollers was also awarded numerous state honors. In 1942 he received Commander with Plaque of Orden de Isabel La Católica, in 1946 he got Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civíl,ABC 17.02.46, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1946/02/17/034.html here] and in 1963 he was honored with Gran Cruz de la Orden de San Raimundo de Peñafort, apart from minor medals and titles like a Medal of Merit from Diputación de Barcelona. When retired he held honorary membership or presidency in various bodies or gatherings, e.g. in 1972 he presided over Jornadas Hispánicas de Derecho Natural.ABC 05.08.72, available [http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/sevilla/abc.sevilla/1972/08/05/036.html here] After the Civil War he distanced himself from independent Carlist politics and was not noted as engaged in party structures,Puigdollers is not mentioned in in-depth studies on Carlism during the Francoist era, compare Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta, El naufragio de las ortodoxias. El carlismo, 1962–1977, Pamplona 1997; {{ISBN|9788431315641}}; Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis in Historia Contemporanea, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia], Valencia 2009; Ramón María Rodón Guinjoan, Invierno, primavera y otoño del carlismo (1939-1976) [PhD thesis Universitat Abat Oliba CEU], Barcelona 2015; Daniel Jesús García Riol, La resistencia tradicionalista a la renovación ideológica del carlismo (1965-1973) [PhD thesis UNED], Madrid 2015 though in private he cultivated the Traditionalist link; in the late 1950s he joined Ediciones Montejurra, a newly set Seville-based Carlist publishing house, and at least until the 1960s along with Manuel Senante, Francisco Elías de Tejada, Rafael Gambra and Agustín de Asís GarroteJacek Bartyzel, Nic bez Boga, nic wbrew tradycji, Radzymin 2015, {{ISBN|9788360748732}}, p. 263 was in its Consejo Asesor.compare e.g. Antonio Arrue, Francisco Elías de Tejada, Melchor Ferrer, Memoria de Zumalacárregui: en Cegama el 26 de junio de 1960, Sevilla 1960 From Traditionalist positions he protested the constitution draft of 1977; as one of 61 academics he called to reject the draft in the referendum.El carlismo es el tradicionalismo histórico español, [in:] Hispanidad service, available [http://www.hispanidad.info/tradicarlismocanals.htm here] There is no information on his public activity after the date.

• Carlism
• Traditionalism (Spain)
• Carlo-francoism

{{Reflist|3}}

• Carmen Agulló Díaz, Expediente instruido por la Universidad de Valencia en 1929 a la profesora Da. Carmen García de Castro, debido a la acusación de “difundir entre sus alumnas doctrinas perniciosas”, [in:] Historia de la educación 20 (2001), pp. 467–482
• Cristina Barreiro, La ACNdeP y su papel político en el primer Franquismo, [in:] Hispania Sacra LXX (2018), pp. 681–689
• Yolanda Blasco Gil, Entre la trayectoria universitaria y social: los catedráticos de derecho de Valencia, 1900-1939, [in:] Armando Pavón Romero (ed.), Promoción universitaria en el mundo hispánico, siglos XVI al XX, Mexico 2012, pp. 191–231
• Josep Clara, Epistolari de Josep Cartañà, bisbe de Girona (1934-1963), Montserrat 2000, {{ISBN|9788484151838}}
• González Díaz-Llanos, Antonio Ezequiel, Don Mariano Puigdollers y Oliver, [in:] Anuario de filosofia del derecho 1966, pp. 347–353
• Sebastian Martín, Funciones del jurista y transformaciones del pensamiento jurídico-político español (1870-1945) II, [in:] Historia constitucional: Revista Electrónica de Historia Constitucional 12 (2011), pp. 161–201
• NAH, Puigdollers Oliver, Mariano (1896-1984), [in:] Carlos Petit (ed.), Derecho ex cathedra, 1847-1936. Diccionario de catedráticos españoles, Madrid 2019, {{ISBN|9788413243986}}, pp. 371–372
• Benjamin Rivaya, Filosofía del Derecho, derechos humanos y franquismo, [in:] Anuario de filosofía del derecho 13-14 (1997), pp. 941–949
• Benjamín Rivaya, Historia política de la filosofía del derecho español del siglo XX, [in:] Cuadernos de Filosofía del Derecho 32 (2009), pp. 541–582

• [http://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/Congreso/SDocum/ArchCon/SDHistoDipu/SDIndHistDip?_piref73_1340024_73_1340023_1340023.next_page=/wc/servidorCGI&CMD=VERLST&BASE=DIPH&FMT=DIPHXLDA.fmt&DOCS=1-125&DOCORDER=FIFO&OPDEF=Y&QUERY=%2892260%29.NDIP. Puigdollers at the official Cortes service]
• [http://portal.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/instituto_figuerola/programas/phu/diccionariodecatedraticos/lcatedraticos/mpuigdollers Puigdollers at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid service] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806102524/http://portal.uc3m.es/portal/page/portal/instituto_figuerola/programas/phu/diccionariodecatedraticos/lcatedraticos/mpuigdollers |date=2020-08-06 }}
• {{YouTube|uhK1ER3B4Hg|Por Dios y por España; contemporary Carlist propaganda}}

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Category:1896 births

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